Nightmares and miricles
by cuddles1234XD
Summary: When Skipper wakes up after a nightmare the guys become concerned... finding out that the nightmare wasn't just a dream. Will skipper find the will to tell them about a piece of his past? or let it damage his sanity?
1. Chapter 1

NIGHTMARES AND MIRACLES

A FANFICTION STORYON THE PENUINS OF MADAGASCAR

CHAPTER 1 

It was a dark and freezing night. All of the animals in the zoo were sound asleep with dreams filled with joy and fun. All except Skipper. Skipper was having a nightmare.

This was no ordinary nightmare. No, this wasn't about being chased by monsters or eaten by dragons. This nightmare was about death and torture. It was the same nightmare he always had.

It was 3:00am when Skipper woke up gasping for breath. He sat up looking around to make sure he wasn't still dreaming. He sighed when he realized that the nightmare was over. It was a sigh of relief.

He needed a breath of fresh air. _ The clock tower._ He thought. It was an ideal spot to breathe some fresh air. He decided to go.

He got up and walked to the roof latch ladder. He climbed halfway up and looked down at his sleeping friends. _At least they're sleeping soundly. _He thought. He continued up the ladder and out the latch door. The door squeaked closed. Btu he didn't give it much thought. He didn't want to wake his friends. They were sleeping, peacefully.

Kowalski, Rico, and Private were light sleepers, so the squeaking door woke them up.

"Is that you Rico?" Private asked still half asleep.

"Uh uh." Rico replied, hopping down from his bunk. "Skipper." He croaked.

Private and Kowalski hopped down from their bunks.

"Skippah?" Private asked "What is he doing up at this time?"

They were all curious to why Skipper was up at 3:00. They knew that Skipper was

an early riser. But 3:00 was early even for him. He usually woke up at 6 and woke them up 30 minutes later. So why was he up?

They climbed up the ladder and out of the latch door. Skipper wasn't there. Skipper wasn't in the habitat.

They looked around the habitat. They couldn't find him.

Kowalski thought he saw something on the clock tower. "Is that him?" he asked pointing one flipper at the clock tower.

Private squinted at the tower, "I don't know. It might be." Private was hoping it was. He didn't feel like looking for Skipper at 3:00 in the morning.

"Let's check it out." Kowalski suggested. He was curious. Why _would_ Skipper be up at the zoo clock tower?

They made their way to the clock tower in silence. They got there 10 minutes later. It wasn't hard for them to climb up the tower. They had done it a thousand times before. When they got to the top they saw what they hoped to see. Skipper.

He sensed their presence. "I had hoped that I wouldn't wake you." He said softly. He was still thinking about his nightmare. It was the same one. When he had a nightmare it was always that one. It startled and frustrated him every time he had it. Because it wasn't a bad dream. It was part of his past. A terrible part of his past. He wanted to forget it but he never could. _Maybe if I told someone. _ Skipper thought. _ Then maybe I could forget. _ But he didn't know who to tell. He didn't know who he could trust with his worst secret.

He had been so lost with his thoughts that he forgot that Kowalski, Private, and Rico were behind him.

"Don't worry about it." Private said in his happy go lucky voice.

Kowalski had sensed distress in Skippers voice. Out of concern for his friend he asked Skipper if he was ok.

There was no reply.

"Skipper?" Kowalski asked. "Skipper, are you ok?" The silence concerned Kowalski. Skipper usually gave some sort of reply

Skipper was sitting on the edge of the tower looking out to the city.

Kowalski, Rico and Private walked over and sat next to Skipper. He looked upset.

"Skipper? Skipper snap out of it!" Private shouted. He began to worry about Skipper. He spaced out before, but not this bad. They waited a few more minutes, hoping Skipper would snap out of it on his own. When he didn't they began to worry.

After a few minutes of unsuccessfully trying to wake Skipper, Rico had had enough. He got up lifted Kowalski out of his way, because Kowalski was sitting between him and Skipper. Then he lifted Skipper up and put him down so that he was standing facing Rico. Private stood up. He was unsure about what Rico was about to do. Rico stared at skipper for a few seconds. That's all he needed to do. He could tell Skipper was in a fog. He was staring straight at Rico. But Rico knew that Skipper didn't really see him.

Skipper was still in his own world. Thinking about what would help him get rid of this evil memory. He wanted to have a normal nightmare when he had one. Not one of his terrifying past. All the time. He was thinking about all of the possible people he could tell when his cheek started to sting him. Then the other one. Then he felt someone shaking him but he still wouldn't snap out of it. He couldn't stop thinking long enough to wake up.

Rico slapped him again. And again. And again.

"RICO!" Private shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Private didn't understand why Rico was slapping Skipper. He was confused and concerned at the same time. Two motions that didn't mix well for private.

Kowalski saw the panic written all over privates face. "Don't worry Private." He said confidently, "Rico's just trying to wake skipper up."

"He looks awake to me." Private was still very confused. _Why would you try to wake someone who is already awake?_

"Private." Kowalski almost laughed. Skipper was right, Private was so naive at times "Skipper seems to be spaced out. Rico is just trying to snap him out of it. Don't you see?" Kowalski put one flipper on private's shoulder, "Rico is bringing Skipper back to reality." Kowalski smiled at private, who still had a confused look on his face.

"But if Skippers not here in reality, then where is he?" Private still confused. How would slapping help?

Kowalski saw that Private still didn't understand. He sighed. "Well Private, Skipper is spaced out. His body is here but his mind is somewhere else." Kowalski hoped that Private understood. He didn't know how else to put it. Skipper was some were else. That's it plain and simple. But that didn't explain why.

Rico was still slapping Skipper. It wasn't doing anything really.

Then, it started raining.

"Perfect." Kowalski sighed "Just great."

Rico had a wild smile on his face. Water. It would make the slap a lot more effective. In a last effort to wake his buddy Rico lifted his flipper high above his head, and brought it down across Skippers face with a _WACK! _ The hit was so loud that it startled Private, and Kowalski.

Private and Kowalski looked over at Rico. Skipper was on the floor rubbing his cheek. His eyes were tightly shut.

Private walked over to them with Kowalski.

"S-Skipper? Are you ok?" Private asked.

He stopped and looked up at private with a look that said,_ do I look ok to you?_

"We'll take that as a no." Kowalski stated. It began to rain harder. Skipper just sat there in the rain rubbing his cheek. It wasn't long before he noticed the rain.

"When did it start to rain?" He asked, standing up. His cheeks were beat red. He was still rubbing the one that Rico slapped the hardest, but he didn't seem to realize his other cheek was slapped as well. He looked confuse.

"It started raining approximately 30 minutes ago." Kowalski informed.

"RICO!" Skipper called.

Rico walked up slowly. He gave a nervous "he he," before stopping next to Skipper.

Skipper knew Rico was waiting for something bad to happen. His smug little grin came across Skippers face. He was deciding on whether to thank Rico, or slap him silly.

He decided on the second choice. "I wanted to thank you Rico." Skipper said calmly.

"Weawry?" Rico asked confused.

Private and Kowalski were also confused. Relieved but confused. They didn't think Skipper would thank Rico for slapping him back to reality. But they did expect Skipper to slap Rico.

"Yes," skipper stated, "I wanted to. Then I changed my mind." He turned to Rico and slapped him so hard it spun Rico around before making him fall to the ground.

"Of course." Kowalski knew it was coming. But he didn't know Skipper was going to slap Rico _that_ hard.

Rico got back up. Skipper walked back towards the edge of the tower again. It was the memory that put him on edge. He didn't mean to slap Rico that hard. He realized then that his other cheek stung too. _ I should thank him._ Skipper told himself. He was thankful to be back in reality. He was.

The rain felt good against Skippers feathers. It felt like a massage. All he wanted to do was stand there all night. Then the question came back. _Why? Why won't this memory leave me alone? Why can't I just forget? Now I have to tell them. It's the only way I can explain my mood. The depressing mood that this awful memory gives me._ He sighed. He hated the mood he was in. it put him on edge. He knew that he would have to tell them now. He always knew he would have to tell them someday. But he wasn't ready to tell them. How could he? How could they relate? They didn't have close to as many problems that Skippers past held. But he had to make himself ready to tell them. They had to know. But how would the react? How would they react to the overwhelming sadness that he knew telling the nightmare would bring? They never saw him like that before. Was he really ready to let them see him cry now? Would they even understand his tears? Would they even try? Of course they would. They were his friends. They always tried to understand. It was Skipper himself who was preventing them from understanding him. _No. No more holding back. Tell the whole story! They'll understand. They have to. They just have to._ He was arguing with himself. He was going to tell them. He was going to tell them the nightmare. The whole nightmare. But when? Would he be ready to tell them when he had to?

They walked back to the HQ in silence. Skipper was trying to figure out how to tell them.

They were worried about him. He seemed lost again. But they left him alone. Whatever it was that was bothering him could wait until morning. They were all tired. It took them nearly an hour to get Skipper to go back to the HQ. He was tired too, but he was thinking about something. They didn't know what, but he seemed upset. They would have to wait until they woke up later to find out what was making him so upset.

Skipper did fall asleep. But he had the nightmare again. He woke up at 6:30 this time. He looked at the clock. 30 minutes late. He went to wake up the others but they weren't there. Skipper looked around confused. Then he decided to go up out the latch door and see if they were on top of the HQ. They were.

The rain had stopped sometime between then and now. But the clouds were still there.

"There you are." Skipper said, blankly.

Private turned around right away. So did Rico. Kowalski turned around a few seconds later.

"Oh good morning Skipper!" Private said cheerfully.

"What was the matter with you last night?" Kowalski asked. He was in a less pleasant mood, "you seemed… distracted."

"It was nothing." Skipper retorted. He wanted to tell them but something was holding him back. Fear he decided. Fear was holding him back. The fear of being misunderstood. But the tone in his voice gave him away. Something was obviously wrong. Skipper had hoped that they would leave him alone. The fact that they didn't irritated him. It usually wouldn't. But for some unknown reason it bothered him this time.

"I think something was wrong. And it still is." Kowalski pressed. He wanted to know why Skipper was acting so weird. Why Skipper was acting so… secretive. He was hiding something and Kowalski knew it.

"I said nothing is wrong." Skipper growled. He was irritated. He wasn't ready to tell them. And he didn't want to.

"Are you sure about that Skippah?" Private asked with his innocent voice. "You seem distraught. Are you sure there's nothing bothering you?"

"I said I'm fine! What part of nothing's wrong don't you understand!" Skipper shouted. He was trying his best to make them leave him alone. But it was no use. They just simply cared too much. _ At least they care. _Skipper thought trying to calm himself.

"Skipper, something is wrong. And you know it." Kowalski said in a harsh tone "We just want to help." he said softly. "And we can't do that if you don't tell us what's wrong with you."

"Well I can't tell you what's wrong, because I'm fine." Skipper tried to keep his voice calm. He wasn't doing too well. His voice was mostly calm, but it had hints of fear and sadness. The fear came from Skipper not wanting to tell them about his nightmare. The sadness came from the nightmare itself.

"Uh uh." Rico grunted. He didn't believe Skipper. Something was obviously wrong. It was written all over Skippers face. Skipper looked distraught. He looked upset.

"Skipper, Is, there, something, Wrong?" Kowalski paused shortly between each word giving the question a demanding, yet caring tone.

"uh, eh-y-n-uh-" Skipper stammered. Kowalski sounded like a parent. Harsh but loving. He knew that they weren't going to give up. _It has to come out sometime right? _He told himself. _ Why not now?_

"Well?" Private asked, waiting for the answer.

"Yes." Skipper sighed. "There. Are you happy now? Something's bothering me so what?" Skipper was irritated. They couldn't help him. He didn't want to give them his nightmare. _ You can't always do what you want. Or what you don't want. _ Sipper was trying to prevent himself from blowing up at them. Because it really wasn't their fault. _ They just care too much._

"So what?" Kowalski said in shock. "so what? So we're going to make it stop bothering you." Kowalski said with confidence. _I guess Skipper needs to vent sometimes too. I mean with all the things he does. People give him their problems but he keeps his to himself. Most of the time. But what could be bothering him? Nothing bad has really happened in a few days now._

Skipper turned around and jumped back into the HQ. The others followed him. The last one in closed the latch door. If he was going to tell them, he wasn't going to tell them while they were out in the open. But he wasn't sure if he was ready yet.

"so?" Private asked. Skipper had told them that something was bothering him. Now he had to tell them what that something was. And Private had a feeling that it wasn't anything good. _Of course it's not good._ Private told himself. _If it was something good Skipper wouldn't seem so stressed._

"So, what?" Skipper really didn't want to tell them.

"Skipper you're not going to do this all day are you?" Kowalski asked. He didn't want to play 20 questions. And his voice said it all.

"just tell us what's bothering you!"Private almost shouted. "Get it done and over with!" Private was the irritated one now. What could possibly be this bad!

"It's not that simple Private. I wish it was but it's not." Skipper said softly, and sadly.

Privates mood went from agitated to concerned. Skipper seemed to be getting worse.

"Eh not?" Rico croaked

"No Rico it's not" Skipper sounded depressed. He sat down. The others sat down next to him.

"Well, tell us Skipper. There's no use holding back now." Kowalski informed.

"It's the nightmare." Skipper explained. _You started it now. No turning back. Tell them the whole story this time. No more fragments! Tell them the truth. The whole truth!_ Skipper was tired of telling them lies to cover up the horrible truth. He told himself what his mother always told him. _The truth hurts._ This truth was going to hurt him. This nightmare always did.

"What?" Private asked.

"The nightmare." Skipper said a little louder than before. "It's the same one every time."

"What nightmare? What are you talking about?" Kowalski asked. He was confused. Terribly, terribly confused. _ I have a feeling this venting is going to take a while._

Skipper stayed silent. He just looked down at the floor he was sitting on.

"Skipper?" Kowalski asked concerned.

Skipper looked up at him. He had the look of despair n his face. Then he looked back down.

"Skipper can we not play 20 questions?" Kowalski asked. He was tired of constantly asking Skipper to reply. "Why don't you just tell us? You'll probably be glad you did."

"The nightmare." Skipper said again. "It's that terrible nightmare."

"Skipper it was just a dream." Kowalski said trying to comfort his friend. "It's not real."

"Oh, no Kowalski. This isn't just a dream. It really happened." Skipper sounded scared.

"What do you mean it really happened? It's a dream it can't be real. Can it?" Kowalski's mind was sorted out._ How can a dream be real? Unless…_

"It really happened. I'm telling you the truth. It really happened. It's not just a dream." Skipper sounded like he was pleading with Kowalski.

"Skipper are you ok?" Private was really worried about Skipper now. Skipper looked like he was about to die. He was pale. Private thought that he was talking nonsense. Well a penguin is white but something had happened to the pigment of skippers face. It actually looked like he was about to die. And it was really starting to worry Private.

"I know it happened." Skipper said, his voice still sounded like he was pleading with someone. But it also sounded terrified. And it was quieter too

"How do you know?" Kowalski asked. He was also worried about Skipper. But he thought about what he told himself before, Skipper needed to vent too. Now was Skippers chance to get something of his chest. Kowalski was going to make sure it happened.

"I lived through it." Skipper looked like he had seen a ghost. . He looked sick. Even so, Kowalski was going to let him tell his story. If there was one. Even if Private and Rico walked away, Kowalski was going to sit there and listen. Because that's what Skipper needed. Someone to just sit and listen to him. _Like a therapist._ Kowalski thought. He would be Skippers therapist for the day.

Kowalski actually felt nervous. Could that really be what Skipper needed? A therapist?


	2. Inocence

Thanx for the reviews. This is my first Fanfic.. I'm glad to see it's not a train wreck. I was afraid of that. I'm trying to keep Skipper in character, but as I haven't seen him upset it's a little hard. Here's the next Chapt. Enjoy!

Now Skipper looked like he was about to cry. He was. He was because of the nightmare. The memory was killing him.

"Skipper? Skipper? Skipper what's wrong?" Private asked. He was definitely worried about Skipper.

Skipper managed a groan. He didn't want to talk. He felt like talking would make him cry.

Then, it left. The memory just, faded away.

Skipper sighed. He hated that memory. He looked up to see 3 sets of worried eyes staring at him. He gave a quick grin. A very faint grin. It wasn't a very reassuring grin.

"Skipper?" Kowalski asked in the most caring tone he could manage. "Is it the nightmare? You said it was real?"

"yes." Skipper answered. "I don't know if I want to tell you though."

"why not? Don't you trust us? We're not going to laugh." Private asked. He sounded a little hurt.

"it's not you Private, it's me. I think." Skipper said confused. He was confused with his emotions. Was he upset? Or was he scared? Maybe he was both. _ Tell them! Tell them. They need to know. They should know. Maybe if you tell them the nightmare will finally leave. Just tell them!_

"I want to tell you, I really do. But something is keeping me from telling you. I think I'm afraid." Skipper said, still confused.

"Awaid? Awaid ah wha?" Rico asked. They were all confused. But Skipper was the worst. He felt like his emotions were playing with his mind. He wanted to tell them. And he had decided to tell them. So why couldn't he?

"I don't think you'll understand." Skipper explained. Skipper wasn't thinking really. He was just talking. Not fully thinking about what he said

"you never know.." Kowalski started.

"until you try." Private finished.

"Ok then" Skipper said slowly "I guess I could try to…" he was cut off by Marlene.

"Hey guys!" she said happily as she walked into the room.

Skipper stood up. The others followed.

"So wha-" She stopped when she saw their faces. They looked at her with a _make this fast _look.

Skipper still looked upset. He was trying to figure out where to start. He could start before it happened. Or in the middle of it. But then nothing would make sense. _ I guess I'll have to start from the beginning. _Skipper told himself

Kowalski was arguing with Marlene.

"Well you have secrets too." He said. He sounded like he was getting annoyed with her.

_I guess they're arguing about secrets. How did Marlene find out that we were hiding something? _ Skipper asked himself. The arguing was actually giving him a headache. _They never really were good at keeping things under the radar. _

"Well at least I don't have as many as you guys have!" Marlene shouted. She was angry. She hated all their secrets. They had a lot of them and she was getting annoyed. Maybe they had their reasons. But she still would like to know some of them.

"We have more people than you do!" Kowalski shouted.

"Bye Marlene." Skipper said Waving. He didn't feel like listening to Kowalski and Marlene fight. She didn't fight with Skipper. She noticed his sad expression. She left mumbling under her breath.

Skipper sat down. He was tired, but he didn't know why. This nightmare was probably what was taking so much out of him. He sighed. Where should he begin?

While Kowalski, Private and Rico were making sure that Marlene left, Skipper was sitting against the wall falling asleep. And after a few minutes he did. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately. But this time when he fell asleep he didn't have a dream. He didn't have a nightmare either. It was like is his thought process just shut down.

When Kowalski private and Rico came back into the room Skipper was sleeping.

"Look." Private said quietly pointing at Skipper. He couldn't help smiling. Skipper looked so, calm.

"He looks so, peaceful." Kowalski whispered. He was happy. Skipper seemed stressed. More stressed than usual. So seeing him peacefully sleeping was a big relief to Kowalski. And probably the others too.

"Uh huh." Rico grunted in agreement.

"I don't think I've ever seen Skippah so peaceful." Private said in awe. It was true; he never did see Skipper the way he was now. Skipper was always thinking about something. And most of the time it was paranoia.

"Should we wake him?" Kowalski asked. He didn't think they should.

They didn't know. They couldn't decide on whether or not to wake him up.

They were whispering. Rico wanted to wake him, Private didn't and Kowalski couldn't decide. He wanted to let Skipper sleep but he also wanted to know what was wrong with him. But he also needed sleep. He could tell that Skipper needed sleep. And when he thought about it, Skipper had been troubled for a few days. The more Kowalski thought about it, the more obvious Skippers mood was. He didn't know why it took him so long to notice. Skipper was, in fact, a lot more than upset. He seemed desperate. Like he really wanted this… nightmare? Or memory? Whatever it was he wanted it to be gone, almost begged for it to go away. Secretly. That is he didn't come out with it until now. But he did hiny about it.

"No let him sleep." Private whispered.

"Uh uh. Wake" Rico whispered back

"No. He's sleeping peacefully Rico" private argued, still whispering.

"Walsee." Rico Whispered. Kowalski knew what he wanted. Rico wanted Kowalski to tell Private to let Rico wake Skipper. But Kowalski couldn't. Private was right. He needed to sleep.

Even though they were whispering Skipper woke up anyway. He moaned. They stopped fighting and looked at Skipper. Skipper blinked trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Kowalski, Rico, and Private.

"Did we wake you Skippah?" Private asked.

"No" Skipper yawned. He stood up.

"Skippah?" Private asked.

"What is it private." Skipper replied, still half asleep.

"Um I was wondering if you were ready to, well tell us what was uh…" private said nervously.

Skipper knew what Private was getting at, "Yes, young Private. I think I am." He gave a happy grin. They knew he was ready now.

They went through the rest of the day as usual. Skipper wanted to wait until the humans left to tell them the nightmare. It would make things easier.

As if to suit the mood of the HQ that night, a strong storm came to the city. It knocked out the power. So they made a camp fire. The shadows from the fire danced across Skippers face as he explained the nightmare. The power outage had a perfect timing. The mood in the HQ was perfect for Skippers story.

Anxiety…. Depression… Sadness.

"Well, are you ready?" Skipper asked. He half hoped that they wouldn't be. But then again, he really wanted the nightmare to disappear.

"Yes" Kowalski and Private answered.

"Yup." Rico grunted.

"Ok then, I guess I'll start." Skipper sighed "I think I already told you that it's the same dream every time."

"Yup." Rico replied.

"Ok then let's start from the beginning. I lived in a kingdom in Antarctica. It wasn't the best kingdom but it was a kingdom. There wasn't a lot of evil within the kingdom. In fact there were only 3 or 4 twisted minds in the whole thing. One of them was the king. The others were citizens.

I lived at the edge of the kingdom. Can I just call it a city?"

"Sure! It's your story." Private told him.

"Ok, well I lived at the edge of the city with my father, and don't laugh at this, we called him Papa."

"Whoa wait a minute. You called him, Papa?" Kowalski asked skeptically.

"Yes we called him Papa. That was what we called him. What's the problem with calling your father Papa?" Skipper retorted. He had always called his father Papa. That and when he was separated from his father he was still young.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. It's just I thought that the name for a male penguin parent was father or dad. I haven't heard a penguin call his father Papa before." Kowalski said defensively.

"Well now you have." Skipper said.

"Wait you said we. Who else called him that?" Private asked.

"My sister, Destiny." Skipper informed.

"Oh. Huh?" Kowalski didn't understand.

"You'll understand later." Skipper told him. "Can I continue?"

There was no reply.

"Good. So we called him Papa, but his real name was Max. Then there was my mother…" he paused. His mother. He missed his mother. "My mother." He said softer. "Her name was Gabriel. She was, amazing. The mother kids dream about. She cared. At times way too much." Skipper laughed. She always cared about others. "She was the type of parent that would go looking for you in a blizzard. It seemed impossible to hate someone like her. She was happy when others were happy and sad when they were sad. She hated to see people upset. She was part of the cities defense system. To protect the town. She loved her job. Then" his voice dropped to one of depression "Then one day she left to defend the castle. The stupid kings' castle. It was under attack and she had been called out to protect it. The castle was saved but…. But she wasn't." Skippers face tightened. He looked towards the ground. He didn't want them to see him cry. But he couldn't help it. So he stopped trying to hold it back. He cried. And to his relief, they understood why he was crying.

When he finally calmed down, fully calmed down, he continued. "I have to tell you some things about the city. One, we had a school. Yes a school. The teachers were all nice too. So it wasn't torture. And a bell rang in the morning telling you that you had five minutes to get to school. You started at a young age and didn't stop until you had a job. That was the rule. Well the main rule. There were others about obedience and things like that, but that isn't important. There were two schools. One for the older kids and one for the younger ones. They were in the middle of the town. A good walk from my house.

"My house was different than others. It had the main room. This was the first one you walked into when you entered the house. If you walked strait there were two hallways. One went further forward. And the other one turned right. If you went down the hallway that turned right, you would see 3 doorways. One to my parents' room, one to Destiny's room and one to my room. My room was smaller than destiny's, why? I don't know. And our parents' room was tice the size of mine. Destiny's room was medium sized. The only things in the rooms were a bed, a night stand sort of table and a shelf. That was down the first hallway.

"The other hallway lead to a, uh, I don't know what it was really. It was the only room with a door. Not counting the front door. But it was a big room. A little bigger than this one.

"We also had a kitchen. It was really basic and small. There was a sink, a refrigerator, ours was hardly ever full. It only held fish. You could buy fish, or hunt for them. We hunted. The kitchen was to the right of the main room. It had a doorway and a window. The window wasn't to the outside. It was to the main room. So you could see the kitchen from the main room and the main room from the kitchen.

"Anyway the other thing was that you had to pay the king. You paid the king, he let you live on the land. You paid the king with ice stones. They were little stone of ice with color dye in it. They were really just beautiful rocks. The king gave them to the business leaders. They gave them to the workers the workers used them to provide for their family. And there were regulations. If you were married you paid more, there were more people on the land. If both parents worked you paid less. If you had kids you paid more. But less for the second kid than you did for the first, if you had two. If you were a mother who lost their husband you paid less. But if you were a husband who lost his wife, you had to find another one, or give up your kids. That's not the worst part. If you wanted to keep your kids or kid you had one month to find another wife.

"What happens when you lose your mother but your father wants to keep you?" Skipper wasn't really asking them the question.

There was no reply. Kowalski, Private, and Rico looked tense, and confused.

"You feel wanted. And you feel the world drop out from under you when you find out that the only way that he can keep you is to marry what might be the most evil, twisted thing on the planet. This rarely happens." Skipper informed.

Kowalski, Rico, and Private sighed in relief.

"People say that it happens to one unlucky family every 20 or so years. Well we were that family. The devil might have been afraid of this woman." Skipper had been looking into the fire. He looked up to see three terrified faces staring at him.

That was what he was afraid of, scaring his friends. There was a reason why he usually kept this part of his past to himself. He thought it would scare anyone he told it to.

"Do you want me to stop? I'll stop if you want me to." Skipper said. They could tell from the tone of his voice that he regretted starting to tell him the nightmare. He didn't want to scare them.

"No, no, no Skipper we, well we…" Kowalski didn't know how to explain it. He wanted Skipper to continue. He was just shocked. _He didn't even start and I can tell this story gets worse before it gets better. But it already amazes me that someone who has been through… whatever this woman, this so called eviler than the devil woman has put them through could have so much love for others. Skipper isn't the 'kill for revenge' sort of guy. The devil is evil. I don't know what she did to him but Skipper doesn't seem too happy about it. _He looked at Skipper. He was looking at them like he regretted he started to tell this story.

"We want you to continue. If telling us this story helps you than we're going to listen, no matter how bad it gets" Private told Skipper. Private was so calm. Which surprised Kowalski, because Private was usually not into scary terrifying stories. But he guessed it was because he really cared about Skipper. After all, he did consider them his brothers.

He also stole the words right out of Kowalski's mouth.

"uh huh" Rico grunted confidently. Skipper had to get this off his chest. It wasn't good for him to keep something like this to himself.

They're want for him to continue for the pure fact that it would help him made Skipper feel confident enough to tell them.

"Well I'll start with the day after we found out that my mother was," Skipper paused. "Dead."


	3. life sadly continues

~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~~~

"No!" Skipper sobbed into his father, "No Papa she can't be dead! She'll come back. She always comes back." Skipper was only 4 years old. His sister, Destiny was 6. Destiny was silently crying in her father's arm. His other arm was holding Skipper.

"Skipper, she's gone. I don't like it anymore than you do." Max was fighting his own tears. He had known Gabriel from when he was just a kid himself. They had grown up together.

"Then why aren't you crying Papa?" Destiny squeaked.

Max put them down. Tears were streaming down both of their faces. They just looked at him. He hated seeing them cry. It tore his heart to pieces. He loved them. He had always just wanted them to be happy. That seemed like an impossible task now.

Skipper looked down at his reflection. The house was made of snow and ice. His father was having trouble keeping it. Max was a single _male_ parent now. He had to find a wife. Another wife. _No._ he told himself. _ You have to find a female partner not another wife. I will never have another wife as long as I live. _He needed a wife so he could keep his kids. He loved them.

"Papa?" Skipper called, pulling Max out of his thoughts. "Didn't you love her?"

Max kneeled down to look straight into their eyes. "I loved her very much. But I will mourn her when I don't have two angels to take care of." He smiled. They smiled back. The two wary smiles almost made him laugh. Like angels. His angels.

They ran into their father. He picked them up and hugged them. "We love you Papa." They said together. And then they fell asleep. He looked at them, sleeping is his arms. "My angels." He whispered. He wanted to tell them that it was just a dream. That this was all a nightmare and they would wake up and everything would be ok. But he couldn't. Because it wasn't just a dream. It was reality. Tomorrow would be busy day. They had to go back to school. You could only miss three days. And Max would have to go back to work. You could only miss two days of work. That's why Skipper and Destiny had to go back to school tomorrow. There was no one there to watch them.

Max put them in their appropriate rooms and went back to the main room. He looked around. There were chairs, and a table and one shelf. Gabriel had told Max that they were going to teach the kids that the most important possession couldn't always be held. Love. They had decided only days before their mother left for the last time. It was love. You can and can't hold love. Love is an emotion. A feeling. They decided to call it the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you care for someone and there care for you. That was the possession that couldn't always be held. Family was the only love that could be held. And anyone else that you would die for.

Max was recalling the day. Gabriel was so happy to know that they knew the true meaning of love. The possession that couldn't always be held. She was overjoyed. She gave each of them an amulet. One of them was from her mother; she gave that one to Destiny. It was magenta colored. The other one was a gift. Given to her for outstanding performance on the field of battle. She gave that one to Skipper. It was tidal wave blue. She gave the amulets to her kids so that they would always remember her. She also gave one to Max. It broke apart. It was supposed to. For it was the yin and yang amulet. They each wore half of the amulet around their neck with a leather chain. That's how Max new she was dead. They gave him her half of the amulet. He would never forget the moment he received the necklace. He never felt so heart sick. He put the amulet together and wore it around his neck with his and her leather chain. It gave him a little comfort. Enough to hold his pain inside while Skipper and Destiny needed him to. He only took the amulet off when he worked. But he kept her leather chain on. It helped him concentrate. It helped him hold on to her. It helped him remember.

They had put Skipper's amulet in his room on the shelf and Destiny's amulet on her shelf in her room, where they sparkled every day.

"Sparkle with love." She had said. They did seem to sparkle with love. Especially now that she was gone. Part of her was contained in those amulets. Max was sure of it. They glowed twice as bright now, than they did when he was alive.

~~~~~~present time~~~~~~~

"Wait a minute." Private said thinking.

"What?" Skipper asked.

"I was wondering. Do you still have the amulet that your mother gave you?" Private asked curious.

Skipper thought for a minute. "Yes. Yes, I do." Skipper answered. He had put in a safe place. In the wall. He had cut a piece of the wall out and placed the amulet there. Then he trimmed the stone piece of wall and put it back. The amulet wasn't crushed. But it was hidden.

"Can… Can we see it?" Private asked innocently. He didn't want Skipper to get upset. He thought that asking might, sadden him. But he couldn't help asking.

Skipper smiled. "Why not." He said calmly. He wasn't upset. He never was when he thought of the day he got the tidal wave amulet.

He went over to the wall next to the beds and took a piece of it off, creating a whole in the wall. Out of every hiding space in the room, it was the least complicated. He reached into the hole and pulled out a blue amulet. It was held around a light brown leather strip, tied in a specific way that let you adjust the tightness but stay at that tightness level after you were done manipulating it. It still sparkled when Skipper held it. Maybe, part of his mother's spirit really _was_ held within the amulet. He was glad that she gave it to them. It helped him remember her.

Skipper held it up for them to see.

"Wow." Private said in awe. "That's… that's a beautiful amulet Skippah."

Skipper was expecting Kowalski to say something highly scientific. But he didn't.

"That is one amazing amulet." Kowalski said. Also in awe. He didn't think that he should examine it. It was Skippers only link to his mother. Kowalski didn't want to break it.

Rico grunted in agreement. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

Then they went back to the fire and sat back down. Skipper was playing with the amulet in his flippers as he continued…

~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~

Max was remembering the look on Skipper and Destiny's face's when Gabriel gave them the amulets, when someone knocked on the door. Max went to the door. _Who could possibly be up at this time of night? _ He asked himself. It was late. They didn't have clocks but they knew the basic time of day.

Max opened the door to find two officers. That was the cities version of police.

"Are you Max?" one of them asked. Max knew they were officers they were wearing a green medal. That was the symbol for the officers. Officers also carried spears. Penguins were still low tech with war materials.

"Yes. I'm Max." Max replied slowly. He didn't understand why the officers were there. Every male penguin in the city knew that if you lost your wife you had a month to find another one before your kids were taken.

"A new law has been passed." The other officer informed.

"A-a n-new law?" Max asked. He was taken back. His heart was racing. He had a million questions that ran through his head. But the one that stood out most was: _were they here to take Skipper and Destiny?_ Gabriel was the only female lost.

"Yes. A new law." The officer repeated. Max just stood there, dumb struck. "Where are your kids Max? You have two of them correct?"

"Yes I have two kids. I just put them to bed. Why?" Max asked. He was happy that for once in his life he was able to keep his voice and body calm when he was nervous and terrified. He loved Skipper and Destiny. He wasn't ready to lose them. If that was what the officers were there to do. Why else would they start asking them about his kids? Gabriel was the one and only Officer that Max trusted. Anything was possible with these guys.

"Can we see them?" the officer asked. He had a very formal voice.

_See my kids?_ Max thought. _ After I finally got them to sleep? Heh, I don't think so._ He knew he couldn't say that so instead he said, "I'd rather not wake them right now. I want them to sleep. They haven't slept at all since their mother, uh, left." Max wasn't lying. It was against the rules. They hadn't slept in days.

"We'd like to see them anyway." The officer demanded.

"No." Max said calmly. He could feel his defense system kick in. he was going to invite them in but now he decided to let them stand outside. They weren't going to wake the kids up. There was not even the slightest chance of Max letting that happen.

"What did you say" one of the officers growled. In their books, Max was a commoner. And commoners don't refuse an order made by an officer.

"I said no. they just fell asleep. Can't you give them a brake? They just lost their mother. Let the poor kids sleep." Max was trying to retain himself. He felt that if these two idiotic officers didn't leave soon, he was going to deck them. He was desperately trying to hold back his anger. He couldn't let it show. That was also against the rules. You had to remain calm when talking to an officer. You had to be pleasant. These officers were lucky that they didn't have a black eye.

"Let us see your kids. Now commoner!" the officer shouted.

Max was about to tell the officer to shut his mouth but it was too late.

"Is that you Papa?" Destiny squeaked. She was scared. Ever since their mother died they were both scared. Shouting usually scared her. Mostly because only the officers would shout things at people. Citizens would raise their voices but they usually talked in regular tones. Skipper felt the same way. She and Skipper were hiding in the hallway.

"You couldn't be quiet could you?" Max asked annoyed. He sighed. _Great. This is just great. Now they'll never sleep. _"I don't know about you two but here we like to get at least some sleep." Max whispered, frustrated. "It's alright guys." Max Shouted, calmly. Which amazed him. But he didn't show it. He just stared at the officers.

"It's just a couple of Mama's friends." He looked at the officers in disgust.

"Respect us commoner." the officer whispered. "Their lives might depend on it." Max immediately relaxed his facial expression. Showed no emotion at all. The officer laughed. He found Max's weak spot. That angered Max. It angered him to see that these officers found fun at is expense.

Skipper heard the officer laugh. That scared him. Only because it wasn't a fun filled laugh. It wasn't the type of laugh that made everyone else burst out with laughter. It was the type of laugh that made the toughest man shiver. And it sent about five shivers up Skippers spine. He was scared all right.

"I only respect those who disserve it." Max growled. They didn't disserve his respect. They didn't disserve to wear the medals but Max had already said enough. Skipper and Destiny were walking, slowly and unsurely out of the hallway. The officers pointed their spears at Max. "You want to lose your precious kids commoner?" the officer growled. He was anything but happy. "No? Then show a little respect for your superiors."

Max held his wings up in the way you would when surrendering. "Fine. If it's my respect you want, I'll give it to you, just leave us alone. We haven't done anything wrong to-"

"P-p-p-p-papa. Y-y-you said th-these were m-m-mama's f-f-friends." Skipper said sleepily. They were out of the Hallway, in the middle of the room shaking.

"Y-y-you're n-not g-g-going to h-hurt him, a-are you?" Destiny stuttered. She was terrified, they both were. They were in the middle of the room looking at two officers pointing their spears at their father. Nobody moved.

"Please don't hurt Papa!" Destiny cried, "He didn't do anything wrong!" she was on the verge of tears and Skipper wasn't very far behind.

The officers relaxed their posture. Their spears were no longer pointed at Max. Skipper and Destiny started to cry. It was the combination of two sleepless nights and the fear of losing their father that did this. They weren't screaming. They were silently crying. Their breathing became abnormal.

"Don't take papa." Skipper sobbed, "Please don't take papa."

Max wanted the officers to leave. They were harassing his family. Or what was left. Then he remembered the law. "What's the new law?" he asked.

"Ah yes the new law." One of the officers said. "You now have two choices when you lose your wife. You can hand over your kids."

Skipper and Destiny walked up to Max. "What are they talking about Papa?" Skipper asked fear was in his voice. He didn't want to be handed over to them. They almost killed his father.

"Yeah papa what are they talking about?" Destiny asked, scared and confused. She didn't trust them. She was almost 100% sure that they would kill her if she went with them.

"I don't know yet guys." Max replied. He knew but he couldn't let them know yet. The officers had to leave first. Then he would tell them the truth.

"Or if you want to keep the little brats," the officer started.  
Max growled. _They're not brats. _Now he really wanted hurt these guys.

"You can and will have to, live with the partner that we picked out for you." The officer finished.

Max wanted to keep the kids. But he didn't want another partner. "I'll take the partner." Max sighed. This was happening too fast. Way too fast. But he was glad they didn't say wife.

"Ok them, we'll be back next week with your new wife."

"Partner." Max corrected.

"Whatever commoner." Then the officers left.

Max sat down in a chair and rubbed his temples. How could he explain this to them? They were just kids. This shouldn't be happening to them. How was he going to explain them having another mother? They always thought that they would only have one mother and that's it.

"Papa?" Skipper asked.

They weren't crying any more. They were standing in front of Max with worried faces. Max seemed distressed. He was stressed. He felt like he was going to explode. It hadn't even been three days since Gabriel left and he already couldn't take it. The stress. He had shared the responsibility of being a parent. But know it was his job to take _full _responsibility. And he didn't know if he could do it.

"Those weren't Mama's friends. Were they." Destiny stated. She knew. Everything would be different now. She looked over at Skipper. She saw it in his eyes. He knew too. She almost hoped that he didn't. She hoped it didn't scared him like it did her. But when she looked again, she knew it did. And she was right. Skipper knew that things would be different. He knew that he might never be able to go back to his normal life. But without their mother, nothing would ever be normal again. And he was afraid of it. He was afraid of how much things would change. He didn't want this. Any of it. But most of all. He was afraid of the new penguin that would be coming in seven days. He was afraid of what she would be.

Max shook his head, "No. they were just, guards." That was what they called the officers. But Max thought that they should be called king puppets. Because that's what they were. The kings puppets. The citizens were the kings toys. Max understood this all to well.

"What did they want Papa?" Skipper asked. He was confused and scared. Why were there two officers at his house? Why were they pointing Speers at his father?

Max got up from the chair and sat down against the wall. Skipper and Destiny sat in his lap. They were all tired, but right now they were wide awake. Officers scared them. Even though their mother was one. They thought that she was the only one that they could trust. Now they didn't have a single officer that they trusted.

"Well they came to tell me that…" Max stopped. He didn't know how to explain it. In his mind, Skipper and Destiny needed more than one week to mourn their mother. Max didn't even know if he could trust this woman. He didn't even know her name. He knew nothing about her. How could he let someone into his house, helping him take care of his two kids? The more he thought of it the more it made his stomach turn. He didn't need help. He could take care of _his_ children all by himself. With the memory of how Gabriel acted towards them as his guide. The more he thought about her the harder it was to fight back the tears.

"What? What did they have to tell you?" Destiny asked, confused.

"Well, they told me that, um, in order for me to, uh, keep you guys here, in the house, that I would have to remarry. Another female." Those words tasted like vinegar coming out of Max's mouth. He didn't like it anymore than Skipper or Destiny.

"You mean..." Destiny didn't finish the sentence. She knew what Max meant. If they wanted to stay with their father they had to have a mother. Pure horror was written on her face. Why? Why was this happening to _them_? Why not somebody else?

"But I don't want another mama, Papa!" Skipper shouted. Then he broke down into tears. "I don't want another mama." He sobbed. He wasn't just horrified. He was in disbelief. Like Destiny he wanted to know why this was happening to them and not somebody else.

"Me neither." Max didn't know what else to say. It took all of his might not to break down himself. "There's nothing I can do. It's the only way we can stay together." Max said softly. He really didn't know what else to do. He knew that they would rather be with someone they didn't know than be given up by their own father. Max couldn't even begin to picture his life without them.

"It's not your fault really. Papa." Destiny said sleepily. "It's the Kings"

Max was amazed. They were so young. Yet they understood so much. They were very smart kids. They knew what was important. But what Max thought was most amazing about them was that they knew wrong from right at such a young age. Max didn't know the difference until he was seven. And that was only after he met Gabriel. Usually brothers and sisters fought constantly. That was Gabriel's biggest fear. She had a brother. They had wasted a lot of their childhood finding ways to make each other miserable. Skipper and Destiny fought. But not a lot. In fact it was very rare now to see them fighting. They understood each other. And so they were best friends. Gabriel soon found nothing to worry about.

But now she wasn't there to worry about them. That was Max's job now. And now his nerves were on edge. He had everything to worry about.

~~~~~~~~~~BACK TO REALITY~~~~~~~~~~

"but wait." Private interrupted. "How do you know what he was thinking? And how do you even remember this." He asked

"Private, I don't know about you but I remember bad things that have happened to me better than the good things. And I know what he was thinking because after this whole thing was over. After we had been through what we had been through, he told us. Well he told us and a crime officer. Because, a crime had been committed." Skipper explained. _Wow. This is a lot easier than I thought it would be. _

"What was the crime?" Kowalski asked.

"That, Kowalski, is the nightmare." Skipper stated.

"Oh. Ok then continue." Kowalski replied.

"Ok then. After he explained it again an eerie silence settled in the room…

~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~

"Why don't you two go back to sleep?" Max suggested, sincerely.

"Not tired."Skipper sighed. He couldn't believe it. How could his father do such a thing? Why? Skipper was in fact very tired. So tired that he couldn't think straight.

Destiny took his advice. She fell asleep within seconds of Max asking. He carried her back to her room. Then he went back to the main room with Skipper. He sat in a chair with Skipper in his lap.

"Papa?" Skipper asked, "Papa are you sure? There has to be another way."

Max looked down at Skipper, who was looking up at him with a mixed look of sadness and sleepiness. Max smiled at Skipper. This was happening too fast for all of them.

"Skipper, please go to sleep. You're going to need the sleep. Please." Max pleaded. Skipper _did_ need the sleep. And Max did too. He was a builder. Many homes near the castle had been wrecked in the attack. The next few days would be very hard.

"Ok, Papa. I'll try." Skipper hopped off the chair and walked to his room. He really was tired. He just didn't want to go to sleep. But Max never pleaded with anyone. So he obeyed. He wanted to stay with his father. Because being with his father comforted him. He didn't want to wake up again. That's how sad he felt. But he knew that he would have to.

He fell asleep as soon as he laid down on his bed, which was made if dry ice. He slept like a baby. This was a relief to Max who hadn't slept in three days and wasn't planning on sleeping for another Two. Just to make sure that they slept. _One week. _Max thought_. They have one week to prepare. That's not long enough. I can't even prepare to accept a new partner in one week. So how could they? These stupid rules. They don't make anything easier. In fact they make life a whole lot harder. I hope this new partner isn't going to have a big impact on life. For their sake. I don't want them to change. I just hope she's nice. Oh I hope she's nice._

Max was up all night. He had been thinking. Thinking about what was happening. He was worried about who the female would be. Because he learned at an early age that you don't always get what you want. He was hoping that he got what he wanted this time. He was hoping that whoever the female was, she was nice.

Then the morning bell rang. He went to get Skipper and Destiny up. They were usually woken up by the bell and went to school without incident. But Max wanted to make sure they got up.

They hadn't woken up. He woke Destiny first. She was the easiest to wake. Skipper was harder to wake. It took Max 2 minutes to wake Skipper.

"Skipper wake up." Max said impatiently. He shook Skipper one more time before he woke up.

"Huh?" Skipper was still half asleep.

"You have 2 minutes to get you feathery little tail to school." Max almost laughed at how fast Skipper and Destiny ran out the door. Max went to the corner of Skippers room and picked up his back pack. They both had them it was required. But Gabriel was smart and told Max to keep his. She kept hers. So when Destiny and Skipper started school they got hand-me-down back backs. The back packs were made of leather from human jackets. So were the books. The books usually held pictures in them, but every student had one book with words. They were being taught human language. They learned the language from penguins who had escaped human lands.

Max went to the front door. "Three, two one." He knew Skipper would be back. Sure enough the front door opened and Skipper ran in. he started to run towards his room but Max stopped him.

"Skipper."He called laughing.

Skipper spun around.

"Forget something?" Max teased.

Skipper gave a quick nervous laugh before running up to his father, taking the back pack, and running back outside.

Destiny was waiting for Skipper nervously. Skipper ran up to her, and then they ran off to school.

Max went to work. He was making a lot of mistakes. He was a wall builder. That meant he was the one who put the wall together, perfected it and sent it to the house to be added onto the structure. Today he was breaking the ice used to make the wall. His mind was buzzing. He had too much to think off. He was warned by the building manager not to bring home problems to work. That was proving to be very difficult.

His job required focus. And all he could focus on was the woman that was coming next week.

He was allowed one brake per day. He took his brake early. He sat down and let his mind wander.

His worries prevented him from working that day. His boss was nice though. He told Max to go home and rest. So he went home. He had sent his kids to school so he decided to take a nap. He went to his room and laid down. He felt lonely. And then without warning his eyes swelled up with tears. The kids were at school and would be for many more hours. So now was the perfect time. He let his protective walls fall down and cried. He felt his throat get swore and his stomach started to bother him. You know the kind of thing that happens to you when you cry.

The school day was normal for Skipper and destiny. They didn't have many friends. They hadn't begun to socialize yet. So the kids didn't notice them. It was probably for the best.

_I wouldn't want to explain my mood anyway. _ Skipper thought. _Why did this happen? Why do we need another mama? Papa can take care of us. He doesn't need any help. I don't think that there are any wives left for Papa. _

Skipper had forgotten that he was in school. But the teacher didn't.

Skipper sat in the back to avoid attention. He wasn't the smartest kid in the class. And everyone except the teacher seemed to notice.

"Skipper, can you answer the question." Mrs. Kelsh asked, knowing that he wasn't listening. Mrs. Kelsh was Skippers teacher.

"Wha?" Skipper wasn't paying attention. He was lost in his own thoughts. But he responded to the sound of his name.

The other kids started to laugh. And like every other time that this had happened, he sank in his seat. Feeling smaller than a mouse.

She sighed, "Skipper pay attention. You need to know this." She went back to teaching the lesson, and Skipper went back to his own thoughts.

The school knew that kids need to socialize. They seemed to concentrate more towards school work when they had a chance to exercise and talk with friends. There was a set time for this every day. This time was called ice or snow time. But teachers usually just stopped and told students to go and have fun. They called the students back when it was time. Teachers knew when to let the students out and call them back in. Ice time was spent outside.

But teachers were starting to notice that Skipper and Destiny weren't socializing. In fact they only socialized with each other.

Mrs. Kelsh sent the kids out for 'ice time'. But since Skipper wasn't paying attention, he stayed behind when everyone else went out. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the kids leaving or the teacher walking up to him.

_This is going to be a living nightmare. I just know it. This new mama impersonator won't fit in. She's not going to replace mama. She never will._

"Skipper." Mrs. Kelsh broke through Skippers thoughts. "Why don't you go outside? Go have fun."

Skipper just nodded and walked out.

He met up with Destiny near the end of the property. They only socialized with each other because they understood one another.

"Hey Skipper." She greeted him.

"Destiny, can we find a place to really be alone? I want to talk to you about something." Skipper asked. He sounded tired and upset.

"Sure, Skipper." Destiny replied. She was worried about Skipper. It was in her voice.

They ran away from the school, not too far. But far enough. They were in Antarctica, so there were a lot of Ice Mountains. And a lot of caves. They found one that was close enough to the school so that they could hear the teachers calling students back into the school. There were three teachers for every age class. The cave was up on a small ice mountain. It would require some climbing. They both knew how to climb they had seen others do it. Destiny helped Skipper, it was an older sibling instinct.

Once inside the cave Skipper and Destiny sat down against the wall.

"Do you think she'll be nice sissy?" Skipper asked. He called Destiny 'sissy' when he was nervous or scared. He was both. He was scared that the woman that was coming would be mean. He was afraid of her hurting him, or his family. Skippers' family was very protective of one another.

"I hope she is." Destiny replied. She was also afraid that the penguin would be evil.

"Why do we need her? Papa can take care of us. He knows how to. And he loves us right?" Skipper was confused about why they needed an adult female penguin to remain a family.

"He loves us. That's why he takes care of us." Destiny said confidently. He loved them. He had always loved them.

They were sitting side by side. Skipper leaned up against Destiny. She rested her head on his and they fell asleep.

Back at the school the students were being called back in. it wasn't long before the teachers noticed their missing students. They still had to teach the rest of the class so they sent bill, the schools maintenance manager to go find them. Bill was a very nice penguin. He didn't mind looking for the students. He was told to look in every cave and crack he found.

It didn't take long for Bill to find Skipper and Destiny. He recognized them. He had seen them running to the school that morning. They looked tired, so he left them. He sat near the entrance of the cave and waited. He was waiting for them to wake up, or for the school day to be over. If they woke up before school was done for the day he would escort them back. If school let out before they woke up he would wake them and tell them to go home.

And so he waited. And waited….and waited. The schools let out. He got up and went to wake them, but they were waking up by themselves.

Skipper fully woke up first. He yawned, then looked up and to his surprise saw Bill standing there staring at them. "D-did we over sleep?" he squeaked.

Destiny was awake now. They both stood up.

"School just ended. You two can go home." Bill replied, softly.

They walked to the mouth of the cave. Then Skipper remembered that their back packs were still in the school. "Wait our back packs!" he reminded Destiny. "They're still in the school!"

"I'll hold them for you two." Bill reassured them. "They'll be safe."

Then Bill helped them down to solid ground and said good bye before watching them run home.

They ran back to their house as fast as they could. They had now caught up on lost sleep and wanted to ask their father about the cities laws.

~~~~~~~~~~~Reality~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I thought you said you were four?" Kowalski asked confused. _If he was just a kid how did he have such a clear mind? Sure he had a lot happening but how could he handle those things?_

"That's correct." Skipper replied, calmly. "I was four. A young four. Why?"  
"Well I was wondering how you had such a clear mind at such a young age." Kowalski didn't exactly know how to ask the question.

"Clear mind?" Skipper asked. He had no idea what Kowalski was talking about.

"I mean uh. How did you have such a good understanding on these things when you were four? What made you want to know more about your cities laws?" Kowalski asked. He was curious. He wanted to know what was going through Skippers mind while all of this was happening. But he realized that he was starting to sound like a news reporter giving an interview. But still, Skipper was young. How did he understand so much? And how was he smart enough to be curious about the cities laws?

"Well Kowalski, I don't know how I had a good understanding. I guess I just did. But I wanted to know why my father couldn't care for me and my sister by himself. We both knew he could. The want for the information came out of curiosity." Skipper answered confidently, but also confused. He always wanted to know why he understood things when others couldn't. _ I guess it' a gift. _ He thought. His mother had always understood others. Maybe it was just a trait that she gave them.

"So you were just curious?" Kowalski asked, still a little confused.

"Affirmative." Skipper replied

"Oh. You can continue."

"So when we arrived at the house…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They walked into the house. It looked empty.

"Papa!" Destiny shouted. There was no reply.

"Where is he?" Skipper asked. He didn't sound scared. He was completely calm.

"I don't know. Let's look for him." Destiny replied.

They looked under chairs, under the table, everywhere in the kitchen- this included the refrigerator.

"Wow." Destiny said shocked, when she saw that they were low on fish.

Skipper wasn't in the room. He had found their father. He was sleeping in his room. Skipper assumed that he hadn't slept in days. He ran back out to the main room, and told Destiny. They remembered how tired they were and assumed he felt the same way, so they went to bed too.

The night went quickly for Skipper. He didn't dream. His mind was blank all night.

The next day they all woke up at the schools morning bell, but skipper and Destiny were out of the door heading to school before their father even got the chance to say hello. They wanted to get their back packs before anyone showed up. They got their back packs and went through the day unnoticed.

The same couldn't be said for their father. He had another bad day at work. But he did get work done. And unfortunately broke a few more walls. His boss came real close to firing him. That almost stopped his heart. They were barely getting by as it was

That night they had the last of the fish that was in the refrigerator. Max couldn't pay for food. He didn't have enough stones. They only ate every other day. But they still needed to eat. If he didn't earn enough stones for food tomorrow, he would have to hunt for them. He had done it before – he was very good at it. Many times before. But he couldn't risk it. If he had to hunt than he had to take the risk if being eaten. He couldn't take that risk as much as he could before, Gabriel wasn't there to take care of them if he were to become some else's lunch.

They lived near a leopard seal feeding ground. If you hunted there, you took a great risk of becoming a leopard seal's diner. That's why the King and his advisors picked the best and fastest swimmers and the best hunters of the penguins to hunt. They were usually the commoners who had perfected their abilities.

The richer penguins could afford to eat many of them a day. They were usually referred to by the poorer penguins as "stone hoarders".

The poor penguins would have to hunt for themselves. Some of them would die in the process. The rich simply called them the poor.

The middle men were just commoners. All of the penguins in the kingdom were called commoners. But if you weren't rich nor poor, you were a regular commoner. People could tell the difference between the poor, commoners, and stone hoarders. Stone hoarders had ankle bracelets, fancy ones. Commoners had nothing special. They were average, normal. The poor usually had a bucket that they would collect stones in. and they usually did work for the stone hoarders to make more stones.

Max, Skipper and Destiny were at the brink of becoming one of the poor. But Max wasn't about to let that happen. So instead of buying fish, he would hunt for a while. Being as careful as he could be. But that was only if they were still low on stones when max's new partner came.

"Papa? Papa we can skip a few days of eating. You don't have to go out to the death hole." Skipper said trying to prevent his father from facing death.

"No, we don't have to." Max sighed. "She's, um, She's uh, coming tomorrow." He didn't want her to come. He wanted to take care of Skipper and Destiny by himself.

The mood of the room changed instantly. It went from worry and concern, to depression. No one wanted the woman to come. They didn't know what she was going to be like. They were comfortable in their home. They wouldn't be, with her there. They wanted for it to be only them. But not all wishes come true.

She was coming early. But Maxed guessed that the last few days were just as long for them as they were for him. So three days felt like seven.

"I wish we could just live with you Papa." Skipper stated sadly

"Yeah, I do to. And if wishes were horses, we all would ride." Max replied

"Huh?" Skipper and Destiny said simultaneously.

Max laughed. "You'll understand one day. You'll understand all of this someday. When you're older."

Then they all went to sleep. Max of course didn't sleep until Skipper and Destiny were sleeping. It had become a habit.


	4. snow storm

The next day Max stayed home from work to greet his new partner. She arrived at noon. Skipper and destiny were still in school.

She looked strong and focused. She had good posture. She looked like a soldier. She probably retired from being one not too long ago. If she ever was one.

"Hello." She said in a deep serious voice, "My name, is Sasha. Are you, Maxwell?"

Max was stunned. She was tough- he didn't expect that- and she acted like a trained officer. That really surprised him.

"Yea. And it's just Max" Max replied. She might have looked like a trained officer, but Max still didn't fully trust her. Actually that might have been why he didn't trust her.

He gave Sasha a tour of the house. He became slightly concerned that she was interested in the empty room located at the back of the house. But he didn't really think much of it. All in all she seemed comfortable with the house. That was a good start.

Then Max told Sasha about Skipper and Destiny. She didn't seem too like the idea of caring for two little children.

"I wouldn't have minded if they were maybe a few years older, but 4 and 6? That's too young for me." Sasha stated. She wasn't very fond of small children. They annoyed her.

"But Sasha, they don't act their age." Max explained. He needed to convince Sasha that they were like older kids. Just with higher voices and they were smaller.

"They act like they were 8 and 10, not 4 and 6. They have a great understanding of how things work and, and why things happen. Granted they're still just kids, so they won't understand everything. But they don't act like young kids. They matured faster than normal kids would." Max knew that he had to make her stay. But he wasn't lying. They acted older than they actually were.

"Fine. I'll stay for a while. See how I like it here if I do, then I'll stay. If I don't, I'm leaving. Simple enough?" Sasha sounded Bored.

"Yea, that's, that's simple enough." Max said a little taken back. She would make a good negotiator. This female was just full of surprises.

"Why do you dislike young children? Just curious." Max asked. Why would anyone hate young kids? It didn't seem possible.

"Because, they're too needy. And they never shut up. They annoy me that's all." Sasha replied, harshly.

"But that's how young kids act. They don't know how to do much so they're going to be needy." Max said. He spoke out of shock. If he had thought about what he said before he said it he would've kept his beak shut.

"Oh so you're an expert on children now?" Sasha asked sarcastically. "'cause last I heard you were just a common builder boy."

Max could tell that she was annoyed so he apologized and didn't talk again until Skipper and Destiny came home.

Skipper had a normal day at school. He tried to pay attention. But his mind kept wondering to who the newcomer might be. His teacher yelled at him twice. But she had been doing that quite often lately.

Destiny seemed to be having the same problem. They walked home in silence.

They stopped at their front door, too afraid to open it.

"You open it." Skipper said fearfully.

"Why don't you open it?" Destiny retorted. She was also scared to go anywhere near the door.

"Because you're the oldest." Skipper replied. He was still terrified. But his point was made. Destiny was older therefore more able to deal with fear than Skipper.

She walked up to the door cautiously and pressed side of her head to it. She couldn't hear anything. So she walked back to Skipper and pulled him to the door.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Skipper asked trying to pull himself free of Destiny's grip.

"I couldn't hear anything. You have better hearing that me. You try." Destiny ordered.

"Fine. But you could've asked." Skipper replied, harshly. He put his ear to the door. He heard something, but it was very light.

"They're either in another room, or whispering. But I can definitely hear something." Skipper informed,

"In other words, she's here?" Destiny guessed.

"Yes she's here." Skipper sighed. He didn't want her to be there. He didn't want her to be in his house, or in his life. He wished his mother had never died. He wished she hadn't been called out that day. But then he remembered what his father had said the other day, 'If wishes were horses we all would ride.' Skipper didn't know what a horse was but he wanted one. Maybe if he had one, he could ride it and wish all of his problems away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PRESENT TIME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wait, You didn't know what a horse was?" Kowalski asked.

"And you did?" Skipper replied.

"Yes, my father told me. He told me a lot of things." Kowalski stated.

"Well, that's good to know. My father wanted us to learn by experience. It was a very effective way to learn, if you knew how to except new challenges and try new things." Skipper informed.

"So why did you think that riding a horse would get rid of your problems?" Private asked.

"Because my father told me that if wishes were horses we all would ride." Skipper answered. "I might've understood things well, but it took me a while to understand metaphors. I still don't get some of them." Skipper replied.

"Well that makes sense." Private said happily.

"I thought this was a nightmare Skipper." Kowalski said confused.

"It is. I just haven't gotten there yet. If I just started a t the beginning of the nightmare you wouldn't understand most of it." Skipper retorted defensively.

"Uh in ooh." Rico grunted. (continue)

"Ok then. When we walked in no one was in the main room…"

~~~~PAST~~~~~~~

Skipper took his back pack off and took out a paper ant crayon.

"What are you doing?" Destiny asked skeptically.

Mrs. Kelsh said I have to write 'I will pay attention' 100 times." Skipper said mockingly.

"Ooh. That stinks. Mr. Manfred made me do that yesterday. Your flipper is going to be hurting tonight. Trust me." She warned.

Skipper moaned and began writing. Destiny pulled out her own paper and a red crayon and began to draw. She was a talented artist. She was constantly drawing. She hadn't done any art work all week. Skipper was halfway done, he looked up. Destiny was looking at him like he murdered her best friend.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Stop moving." She replied, calmly.

"What?" He asked again confused.

"I'm drawing you so look back down at you paper and don't move." She commanded happily. Skipper thought she was going to laugh. He almost did.

He looked back down at his paper and continued writing. He was three quarters of the way done when his flipper started hurting.

"Aw man. Not now." Skipper moaned.

"Flipper hurt?" Destiny asked, half laughing.

"Yes." He replied rubbing his flipper. He just wanted this stupid paper to be done.

"I warned you." Destiny told him.

Skipper looked down and tried to finish his paper. 10 sentences away from being done Destiny stopped him. She showed him the picture she had drawn. It looked exactly like him.

"It's like looking into a mirror. A weird red colored mirror." Skipper said in awe.

"Hey!" Destiny shouted taking the picture away from Skipper. "It's not weird!"

"The picture is really good. I meant the _color_ red was weird." Skipper explained. "Look," he grabbed the paper and held it up in front of her, "Don't you think that's a weird red?" he asked.

Destiny looked at the paper for a few seconds. "You're right." She laughed. "It is a weird red."

They both started laughing. They laughed for a few minutes before max walked into the room. He smiled at their laughter. But that smile faded when he was Skippers paper. He went to Skippers back pack knowing that there would be a note. He had gotten one from Destiny's teacher yesterday. Sasha walked past them. Completely ignored them. She was going out with a friend.

He took the note out and placed it on the table. Then he took Destiny's drawing of Skipper. He smiled. She was a good artist. But he was stumped for why she had chosen to draw her brother writing. Skipper didn't look to happy either.

He knew she liked to have her artwork organized, so he put it into her back pack. When he reached into her back pack to put the paper in it he felt a small slip of paper. They don't allow kids to use small pieces of paper. He pulled it out to find that it was another note.

He read Skippers first…

Dear, Parent or Guardian of Skipper.

Skipper has been daydreaming in my class for the last week. I have asked him multiple times to pay attention but he is not listening.

He is also beginning to fail the class as well. As you may or may not know we do not like to see our students fail. We want our students to learn, and thrive on the knowledge that is given to them. We fear that if he does not start concentrating and working harder he may have to drop out.

I would like you to talk to Skipper and get him more dedicated to his school work thank you

Mrs. Kelsh.

Max looked over at Skipper. He was still laughing with Destiny. He hasn't seen them so happy sense their mother left.

He sighed and picked up Destiny's note.

Dear Guardian of Destiny,

Destiny was not paying attention today in class, again. She didn't even respond to her name. I am becoming very concerned. She used to be a grand student. Now I fear she is dropping further and further away from that title.

I ask you only to talk to her. Try to get her to focus. I know she can accomplish great goals if she only tried harder. So please talk to her. It's for her own good.

Thank you

Mr. Manfred.

Max loudly cleared his throat.

Skipper and Destiny stopped laughing and turned around.

Max was sating at them, disappointed. It was written all over his face. They knew something was wrong. And it concerned them.

"You two want to tell me what going on with your school work?" He asked in a demanding tone. I was usually Gabriel who bothered them about school. Max was trying to do what she would do. It was working.

Destiny spoke first. "I'm trying Papa, but I can't concentrate. I-I –I just can't. I was worried." She explained. "I-"

"You were worried? About what." Max had a flat voice. Like he was interrogating them. Like their mother did. He would care for them with or without Sasha's help. Acting towards their school work like their mother did would be the easiest thing to start with.

"About _her_." Destiny replied, emphasizing the 'her'

"And you?" He asked focusing on skipper.

"I was worried too" Skipper said, feeling small.

"Is that all?" Max asked skeptically.

"Well…um." Skipper stuttered trying to put his words together. He didn't know how to ask.

"No. No that's not all, Papa." Skipper was trying to figure out how to ask his question. He wanted to know why he was smaller than all of the other kids in school. Everyone was taller than him. They were all taller than Destiny too. Skipper wanted to know why they weren't growing as fast as everyone else was.

"What's the matter then?" Max asked. His tone of voice was turning back into his own instead of their mother's interrogation tone.

"Um… Papa? Why are we shorter than everyone?" Skipper asked, his voice still sounded small.

"What do you mean?" Max asked in a confused voice. He knew what Skipper meant. He had known it from the day he hatched. He was taken to the ER because he was having trouble breathing. That's when the doctors diagnosed Skipper _and_ Destiny with a growth disorder. They didn't have a name for it but they knew that it would affect their growth.

The disorder was a simple one. That didn't make the news any better. It would alter Skipper and destiny's growth pattern. The good thing about the disorder was that everything grew at the same rate. Blood vessels, organs, the heart, lungs, blood cells, (which the doctors said were normal, except for their size) they would all grow and stop growing simultaneously.

"I mean why don't we grow like everyone else? Why are we… different?" Skipper asked, innocently.

"Well Skipper. You were both born that way." Max explained.

"We were?" Destiny chimed in.

"Yes you were." Max sighed, "Let me explain this so you understand. After Skipper hatched, we took him to emergency room because he couldn't breathe. We took you with us Destiny. He was fine. They just wanted to do a few tests to make sure he wasn't sick." Max turned his attention to Skipper.

"After they took some blood samples, they tested them and found something abnormal in your blood. It was smaller than it should've been. You were smaller than you should've been."

"What was?" Skipper asked.

"Well everything in your body that makes you look like you and makes you feel sick when something's wrong with it, is made up of even smaller, um…how do I explain this." Max couldn't think of the right words that Skipper and Destiny would understand.

"Bodies?" Destiny suggested.

"Yes." Max replied. "Everything inside of you is made up of other tiny bodies that work together. Like a town.

Let's use… your heart and lungs. There are tiny bodies inside of your heart that make it work. They are the ones that pump your blood. Blood is like a road for nutrients from the food you eat and things you drink, to get around your body, to feed the other tiny bodies so that they can make your body work, and make you feel healthy. When you're sick, it's usually because a group of those tiny bodies didn't get their nutrients. They didn't get their food. So when doctors give something called medication, they're really only giving you something that will give those tiny bodies enough food to last them until you eat again, and the blood gets the food to them.

"Now the tiny bodies that are in your lungs, are the ones that make you breath. They make sure that the air you breath also gets to every tiny body. The air gets there through the blood that moves thanks to the guys that make your heart pump. Cause the heart only pumps to move the blood along to get the nutrients to everyone else you know. That's why you need you heart to pump or you might hear doctors say get his or her pulse, right? That's just a fancy way to say 'how fast is their heart pumping?' Or beating. Are you still with me?" Max asked. He was afraid that he might be going too fast for them.

"Yup." Destiny replied. She was really interested in the tiny bodies working together with other tiny bodies to make her body work right.

"I think so." Skipper replied. He wasn't as interested as Destiny was, but the topic did catch his curiosity.

So Max continued.

"Any way back to the lungs. The tiny bodies make you inhale _and_ exhale. Or breath in and out. Breathing in gives air to the tiny bodies, so breathing out gets rid of their waste. Breathing out gets rid of the tiny bodies sweat basically. Because we can't have that inside of you now can we? No. That's why if you put your flipper in front of your beak when you Breath out your flipper will feel a little wet. And sometimes you'll smell stinky breath.

"Those are the tiny bodies that are even tinier in you two. But they will all grow together. So one tiny tiny body will never be bigger than another one.

"Understand?" Max finished.

"Yup" They replied.

"What happened after they found the smaller bodies in Skipper?" Destiny asked, curiously. She wanted to know what happened next. Like it was a story from a storybook.

"Well they looked farther into the problem taking X-rays and all that stuff. They found out that you" Max looked and gestured towards Skipper, "had an un-named growth disease. The disease affected everything. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Because everything was affected, everything would grow at the same rate. The disease slowed your growth. Nothing more." Max looked back towards Destiny.

"After finding the disease in Skipper they wanted to test you to see if you had the disease as well. So they did blood samples and X-rays, and came to the same problem. So they came and told us that _you_ and Skipper had a growth disorder and would have it for the length of you lives.

"Your mother and I never had children before. We've never watched over any other child either. So we didn't know that a child had to be a certain height when they hatched. So if Skipper never choked we would've never known why you two grew at slower paces than normal children." Max concluded.

"So we're diseased?" Destiny asked nervously.

"No, no, no you're not diseased. You have a disorder. And all it affects is you're growth. Nothing more, nothing less." Max explained

"So we're abnormal." Skipper stated.

"Well technically, yes. But you two couldn't be more perfect to me." Max said sympathetically.

Skipper opened his beak to say something but a knock on the front door interrupted him.

Max answered it. It was the guards that came last time.

"We would like to inform you that for the next month we will be checking up on you to make sure _Sasha_ is 'fitting in'." one of them informed.

"Oka-ay." Max said slowly.

"So be prepared for our stop by's." The other one said.

Then they turned and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PRESENT TIME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wait, so you have a growth disorder?" Private asked

"No, private I was hit by a shrink ray a few years ago." Skipper answered sarcastically

"That's why I'm short Private. If I didn't have this disease I would probably be as tall as Kowalski." Skipper explained.

"Really?" Kowalski asked, surprised.

"Yes, Really."

"So… you were always shorter than everyone around you? And that doesn't bother you?" Private asked, amazed.

Skipper shrugged. He didn't know what to say. The truth was, at times it still _did_ bother him. Other times he could care less.

He was still holding the tidal wave blue amulet that his mother gave him, rolling it around in his flippers. He was thinking about whether this was a good idea. To tell them about this part of his childhood. He concluded that it was. He fully made himself believe that telling them would eliminate the nightmare.

"Does it?" Private asked again.

"I can't really answer that private." Skipper responded.

"Why not?" Private asked confused.

"Because," He sigh "It doesn't always bother me. But then there are times when I wish I didn't have this blasted disease." Skipper tensed up for a second. Then loosened up a little.

"Well you can't help it skipper. Whatever illness you have when you hatch usually stays with you for the length of your life." Kowalski stated

"I know that Kowalski." Skipper said. "The thing is you three will probably continue to grow at least a little. This is it for me. I'm never going to be any taller than I am now."

They just stared at him. They knew he wasn't happy about his disorder. But he didn't seem to care a lot about it either. It was one of those things that's there but not really cared about.

"So it affects everything?" Kowalski asked.

"Yup. Everything." Skipper replied casually.

"Every organ, every muscle-"

"Not necessarily every muscle. I could make myself as strong as I want to be. It just makes less space _for_ the muscles to grow. I think." Skipper explained. Even though he had lived with his growth disorder for his entire life. There were still things that he didn't understand.

"Ok, but it affects everything else?"

"Yup."

"Hmm. That's interesting. Usually a growth disease only affects certain things. That is what usually causes the deaths of its victims." Kowalski informed scientifically.

Skipper swallowed.

"That's… good… to know. I, guess." He said slowly. Death was never something he really feared. How he died, however, was a whole other story.

A dead silence lingered in the room for a few minutes. Skipper continued his nightmare prelude to break the silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PAST~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the guards left Sasha entered the house.

"MAX!" she screamed.

"Go to rooms." Max whispered to Skipper and Destiny.

They both ran into Destiny's room though. They were startled and nervous. They went into Destiny's room so they could talk.

"What do you think she wants papa for? She sounded mad." Skipper asked. He was shaking, visibly shaking. He never heard anyone ever yell that loud before.

"I don't know. I don't even know who she is. But she doesn't seem very angelic to me." Destiny was nervous and startled too. But she calmed down faster than Skipper did. She was older and probably _had_ heard someone yell that loud before.

Skippers mind was buzzing with questions. _Who was she? What was she? Why was she yelling? What did Papa do? Where was she before she came to their house? Why did Papa tell them to go to their room? _He looked over to destiny. _Does Destiny have the same questions? _

They were both sitting on Destiny's bed. They were on opposite sides of the bed.

"How long do you think she'll be here?" Destiny asked, nervously.

"I don't know. Until the rules change." Skipper answered.

"In that case forever." Destiny sighed.

"Yup, forever." Skipper really hated that idea. He firmly believed that their father didn't need _her_ to raise them properly. He was afraid of the outcome of that.

"Destiny?" Skipper asked

"Yeah?" She replied.

"Should I go to my room?" He asked.

"Why" Destiny asked, a little confused.

"Because Papa told us to go to _our_ rooms." Skipper replied.

"Ok" Destiny didn't really want Skipper to leave. She didn't want him to get hurt while she wasn't there to protect him. Like someone had turned he protective switch on. Then she wondered why it wasn't on in the first place.

She didn't even notice Skipper leave.

Skipper was sitting on his bed, drowning in memories. Good ones. He was remembering his first day of school. He didn't fit in. He knew that right away. So when he came home, he wasn't very happy. His mother wouldn't have it. She told him a story about a lone soldier. The soldier had no friends. He was lonely. So one day he set out to meet some. He talked to all of the people in town. Most of them did become his friends. Then they went on adventures and vanquished evil.

She said that he was that soldier. But he didn't believe her. He was too shy. He didn't have any friends either. But she said that that would all change soon.

"That is unacceptable Maxwell!" Sasha shouted, pulling Skipper away from his memories.

"I just need you to help me with this one thing. I'll pay for everything else." Max pleaded.

"Maxwell" She warned.

"I promise. This will be the only thing I ask your help for." He replied.

"Fine." She agreed. "But this is the only thing Maxwell."

"Right. And it's just Max. Not Maxwell." Max explained.

She didn't really seem to care.

Then Skipper heard feet slapping against the ice floor.

"They get their own rooms?" Sasha asked.

Skipper peaked out his door. Max and Sasha were walking down the hallway towards their rooms. They stopped in the middle of it.

"Skipper! Destiny! Come out!" Max called.

Destiny didn't go out, so Skipper stayed in his room too.

"Come on guys." He asked again.

No one moved.

"You come out or we'll come in."

Still no one moved.

"Or I could drag you out here." He stated.

"You wouldn't do that" Destiny said confidently.

"I will." Sasha stated.

Skipper found his courage. Enough of it to speak up anyway.

"Who-who are you?" He asked.

"I'm your new Mama." Sasha taunted.

That was a mistake. Skipper and Destiny believed that they would never have another mother. They fully believed that they would never have a mother again.

The fact that she said what she did only angered and upset them.

"I took her place child." Sasha stated

"NO YOU DIDN'T!" Destiny shouted. "YOU CAN"T TAKE HER PLACE!"

"Oh, but I did." Sasha taunted.

"NO YOU DIDN'! YOU WILL NEVER REPLACE HER NEVER!" Destiny cried. She was on the verge of tears. Skipper could tell by the way her voice cracked.

Then _his_ protective switch was turned on.

"SHUT UP! YOU CAN'T REPLACE HER! NO ONE WILL EVER REPLACE HER! SO…SO…JUST…JUST SHUT UP!" Skipper shouted.

"Guys stop fighting. Just co-" Max started, Sasha pushed him aside.

She ran into Skippers room. He hid behind his bed.

"WHERE ARE YOU! YOU LITTLE BRAT!" She screamed. She looked everywhere. Practically tearing his room apart. There wasn't much to tear apart though. Then she looked behind his bed.

"There you are." She said.

He screamed and ran into Destiny's room.

Sasha ran after him but Max blocked her from Destiny's room.

"I warned you Maxwell. Don't get on my bad side. You'll regret it," Sasha warned. "You're getting closer and closer to it."

"Leave my kids alone." Max said strongly.

"Let me in Maxwell." She commanded.

"Calm down first" He ordered.

"Maxwell." She said in a threatening voice.

Skipper was in the corner of Destiny's room, with Destiny. They were sitting there, crying. Crying for themselves, crying for each other, crying for their mother, just crying. They were silent though. The only sign of it was their uneven breathing.

They were miserable, and scared. Plain and simple.

That is how they fell asleep. Hugging, red eyed, miserable, sitting in the corner of Destiny's room.

Later that night after he had calmed Sash down Max took Skipper back to his room, put his bed back into its rightful place, and laid him down in it.

Then Max went to Destiny's room and put her into her bed.

He was going to have to talk to them about the fight in the morning. But right now he just wanted to sleep. So he went to his room and went to bed himself. The next morning Skipper did not wake up to the morning bell. He heard it. But he didn't want to get up. Neither did Destiny.

Without warning Max went into their rooms and pulled them both out of bed, waking them up.

He brought them to the kitchen, carrying them by their arms, and placed them on the kitchen counter.

"What happened last night?" He asked in a frightening, commanding, voice.

There was no reply.

"Well?" Max ask.

"W-w-w-we f-fought with h-h-her." Skipper stammered, so quietly that he could barely hear himself. He was startled by his father's harshness. Max never acted this harsh towards Skipper or Destiny. Not even if they did something that could've gotten them jailed. This anger was new to them. It scared them.

"What?" Max asked his voice still harsh.

"He said we fought her. But it was her fault. She should've known Papa!" Destiny shouted, "It's only been a week Papa! Only a week since she left!" Destiny cried, "You may not miss her Papa! But we do. We will always miss her. And we will never have another mother."

Max just stood there dumb struck. What did he just do? How could he get so mad? But more important, how could he get so mad at them? His own two kids?

Skipper and Destiny stared at him for a few minutes.

"We still care. And we still remember, Papa. Let's go Skipper." Destiny said. Then they left.

Max went into the main room and sat down.

"Oh Gabriel, what am I going to do?" He asked. How could I be so stupid?"

He couldn't believe what he just did. He just made his kids run from him. Why didn't he follow them? Why did he let them run? Alone? Going who knows where. That scared him. Not knowing where they went. They could get hurt. Badly. And there would be no one there to help them.

How could he let them just run? He was a terrible father. How could he let them believe that he didn't miss Gabriel? That he didn't even remember her? How could he let his temper take control? He put himself in front of his responsibility. He had to put them first. He would have to do everything with them in mind. So this would never happen again.

He made himself believe that they went to school, even though deep down inside himself he knew that they didn't.

When they could no longer see their house they stopped and Skipper sat down.

"Why did he forget her? How could he?" Skipper cried.

"He- I don't know Skippy. I thought he'd remember. I thought he'd always remember." Destiny replied, sadly.

"We need to find somewhere secret. Somewhere that no one will look to find us." Destiny stated.

"What about the cave?" Skipper suggested.

"That's a good idea. Come on let's go." Destiny said pulling Skipper to his feet.

They walked to the corner of the school property, to help them find the cave. Then they re-traced their steps to the cave.

When they got there they climbed up to they walked into the cave, far into it. They could still see out the mouth of the cave.

They sat against the wall and talked. Mostly about what was happening and how they felt about it.

They hated it. They hated being sad all the time. They hated feeling like something was missing. It made them feel depressed. They were tired of the sad emotions and events that had taken over their lives. They wanted things to be normal again. They didn't want to be sad anymore. They wanted to laugh again. They wanted to be happy again.

"Why do we need her Deedee? Papa can take care of us all by himself. Can't he?" Skipper asked innocently. He thought that Max could take care of them. They only needed their father. Now they only needed him. They didn't have anyone else.

"Papa can take care of us. Well if he tries he can. I don't know why we need her. We don't. We could live without her." Destiny replied. She didn't like her. Whatever her name was. She could back to the way she lived before. And they would be just fine.

He was silent for a few minutes. He thought about love. Right now he felt unloved. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because they were having someone come to help their father take care of them. Or maybe it was because he missed all the love that his mother used to give him. Or maybe love really was becoming scarce.

Fed by that thought a single question came to mind. "Sissy?" Skipper asked, "Sissy do you love me?"

Destiny just stared at him for a few seconds. Of course she did. Why would he have the need to ask her that? She thought that he knew she loved him. " Of course I do, Skippy. I Always have. Why would I stop now?" She replied.

Skipper thought for a minute. She was right.

"I don't know Sissy. I-I-I just felt unloved. Like no one cared anymore." Skipper confessed, ashamed, and saddened.

Destiny smiled. She knew what he meant. She missed their mothers love too. "I miss her too Skippy. But you're not unloved. I think it's just that you feel less loved, because Mama's not here to give us her love." Destiny was explaining it to herself too. She also felt unloved. But now they knew why. Gabriel had given them a whole lot of love every day when she was alive. So much that max couldn't keep up with her. But his love was still there. They would just have to adjust to his love. And with time, that would become enough.

Then they were silent for a while. They sat at the back of the cave and looked out at the snow and ice that had begun to fall. Their jumbled up feelings were starting to make sense. They were sad because they missed their mother. They were afraid because of many things. They were still a little scared to walk to school because of the guards that had came to their house last week. They were afraid of _her_ because she tried to hurt them. They were tired from lack of sleep. They figured out why they felt unloved. And they were paranoid. But they didn't know why. But the anger that they had towards their father not too long ago had vanished. They forgave him because they saw that the face through the angered one that was there before they ran, was sick. It was the type of face you would see if someone was ill, or tired, or a face that had been crying. They were kids, yes. But they knew a sad face when they saw one. And their father had one.

Skipper, trying to get rid of his sad feeling, was remembering the day that he and his sister ran away. Before this time. Last time they ran away it was because they didn't want to go to school. Other kids started to noticed that they were shorter than usual. Their parents refused to tell them why. Giving excuses like 'they're just taller' or you'll catch up. So they ran away. But then they got lost. They wondered into 'The Endless Valley'. The Endless Valley was a flat piece of ice and snow that stretched from the kingdom to the other side of Antarctica. Everywhere, all around them all they could see was ice and then nothing. And the Endless Valley went on like that for miles on end. They walked for hours before collapsing from the cold. Their mother, Gabriel, found them shortly after they collapsed. Max didn't know until afterwards. He was at work, and Gabriel didn't tell anyone until after she found them. She took them to the hospital. And when they were warmed up and stabilized, she took them home. Max was home by then. But when Skipper and Destiny woke up, they didn't care about being picked on. They were just happy to be home. And later that night their mother gave them frozen fish pops. A delicacy because even then they could barely afford it. And then they played games and laughed and had fun. That was the best part of the memory. That was about a year ago.

Skipper looked up at destiny, she looked upset. "Hey Deedee," Another nickname that Skipper gave his sister when he was thinking of a not sad but sort of scary time or a very happy one. In this case, both.

"Do you remember last time we did this?" Skipper asked.

Destiny looked at him. Why would he ask that now? "Yeah, why?" She replied, confused. She remembered. But didn't know what Skippers' point was going to be.

Skipper smiled, "Fishy pops." Skipper laughed.

Destiny figured out what he was trying to do. He succeeded. She started to laugh. "I remember." She laughed, "Fishy pops." She remembered the fun that their parents had gifted them with after that whole ordeal. They thought they were going to get punished. But apparently they were gifted with fishy pops and fun instead.

They laughed for a while. It felt good to laugh. They missed the happiness that came with laughter. Maybe they could hold on to it. Bring back the feeling when they needed it. Then again, maybe they couldn't.

When they stopped laughing they talked again.

"Should we go home now?" Skipper asked.

"I guess. Papa must be worried." Destiny answered.

They got up and walked to the mouth of the cave. What they saw terrified them. Or what they didn't see. All they saw was white. Nothing else just white. It was a class five blizzard. The worst blizzard that there could be. They couldn't see the ground. They couldn't even see two feet in front of them. All they saw was white. They knew from past experience that walking out into a blizzard could kill you. Well one like this one anyway. They didn't want to go out into it.

"We could wait until the storm is gone." Skipper suggested. He didn't want to go out into the blizzard. He was afraid that they'd get lost again. If they did they might actually die this time.

Then Destiny thought of something that was even worse than death. Max.

"What if Papa's out there Skipper!" She shouted, worried. She couldn't lose her father. Not now. Not like this.

Skipper read her mind. "Oh no! We can't lose Papa too!" He shouted, "We need Papa!" They looked out into the complete whiteness once more. Then without conversing they both, simultaneously, jumped out of the cave and were instantly blown back by the powerful wind. They forgot how powerful the winds of a blizzard could be. It took all of their strength to fight the wind and move forward. They only hoped that they would find their father soon. They didn't want to die. Or even pass out this time.

Max had left work as soon as the blizzard had started. He immediately walked towards the school. In the direction the Skipper and Destiny and run off in that morning. His stomach twisted as he thought about the fact that they most likely weren't at school. He walked for 2 hours. By then the blizzard had reached class five. He was an adult. Built to last in weather like this. But then grown penguins couldn't even last long in a class five blizzard. This terrified Max, because if a grown penguin couldn't survive it, there was no was two young penguins stood a chance at surviving it. He walked through the blizzard. Looking for any sign of Skipper and Destiny. Listening against the howling winds to hear their voices. If they were still alive. _No. _Max told himself. _They're alive. They have to be_. He didn't want to think of them lying there, dead in the snow. He couldn't picture it. They were survivors. They'd lived through a blizzard before. He was starting to scare himself.

"SKIPPER! DESTINY!" He shouted. The last thing he wanted was to lose the rest of his family. He shouted their names over and over again. He wasn't going to lose them. That he was sure of.

Skipper and Destiny had been walking through the blizzard for about two and a half hours with little success. They two had been shouting. But instead of shouting their names. They were shouting 'PAPA!' And they were starting to feel hopeless.

"I think this was a bad idea!" Skipper shouted above the wind. He couldn't feel the lower half of his body. He knew that that was not good.

"What makes you say that!" Destiny shouted back.

"My feet are numb Sissy!" Skipper screamed. He was scared. He didn't want to die. And that was what was going through his head right now. Death.

"Just hang on Skippy! I just know we're getting closer to him! I can feel it!" Destiny replied. She didn't want Skipper to stop moving. That would only make things worse.

"Ok Sissy! I'll try!"

They walked for maybe an hour longer. Destiny too couldn't feel her legs now. She was nervous. She couldn't die now. Nor could Skipper. They had to be getting closer to Max now. Who knows' how much longer they would last.

Still, they continued to walk, all the while screaming "PAPA!".

"I can't do it Sissy!" Skipper cried. This was it. He was going to die.

They stopped. "No Skippy! You can do it! Just a little farther! Please don't do this to me now!" Destiny yelled. Skipper had to live. He just had to. She couldn't live without him.

"I'm sorry Sissy!"

Max was going as fast as he could. He was frantically searching now. For all he knew they could be laying on the cold, snow covered ground, slowly dying of hypothermia. He had to find them. It had now been five and a half since he began looking for them. They couldn't last much longer. If they were still alive.

Skipper and Destiny were now sitting on the freezing cold ground. Destiny wrapped her arms around him in an attempt to keep him warm. The wind blew extremely hard, taking some of their weaker feathers and lifting the rest. They were both chilled to the bone. Destiny kept telling Skipper that they would be ok. But in reality, they both knew that their father was their last hope for survival.

In one last attempt to find her father, Destiny summoned all the voice that she had left and screamed, at the top of her lungs, through her swore throat, "PAPA!"

And Max heard it. It was faint but it was there. He recognized the voice immediately. It was Destiny. And she sounded desperate. Max ran, or tried to run, towards her voice. When he could finally see them he picked them up. He couldn't speak. They were alive. They looked tired and worn out but they were alive. A few moments later Skipper passed out. Destiny knew this right away.

"Papa! Skippy!" She shouted. She had to make him look down at Skipper.

He did. And saw that he was unconscious. He remembered seeing a cave a few minutes back. Se he went to find it. With Skipper and Destiny of course. When he did, he went to the back and sat down. The back of the cave was warm, compared with the outside condition. He looked down at Destiny. She was staring at Skipper worried. Just like her mother did. Skipper and Destiny were in Max's arms, but they weren't right next to each other.

"Papa? Is he breathing?" Destiny asked. Max could hear the concern in her voice. She was really worried about him. Max smiled. He was happy that she cared so much about Skipper. It comforted him somehow.

Max could feel his little chest going up and down. So Skipper was alive.

"Yes Sweaty, he's fine." He reassured.

Then destiny cuddled close to him and fell asleep too. Max was glad that they were alive. Now he had one less thing to worry about. He hugged them close. He would never let this happen again. No matter how mad he made them get. They wouldn't run away again. Now he understood. Now he knew why Gabriel loved them so much. Because, they cared for each other. Because they were, for lack of words, cute. They had personalities that made you happy, just to be around them. They almost made you love them. But they never told you that they wanted your love. They showed you what your love meant to them. And that alone made you want to love them more. They seemed to radiate love, and kindness, understanding. They were perfect children, because they cared, and loved, and made mistakes that others wouldn't. they took chances. But then they stayed mostly to themselves. Now Max knew how Gabriel could give them so much love. She saw that they needed it. But Max didn't know if he could ever love them the way she did. He just hoped that he could. But then, they seemed to like the love they got now. Like they were perfectly fine with the amount of care that Max gave them. He would have to look farther into this later. Because walking through that blizzard had taken a lot out of him. And he was drifting away.


	5. more unfortunet events

IM SORRY! It wasn't supposed to make you cry. But yeah the king is bad. He doesn't seem to care. You'll see why he doesn't later on. But like I said. I didn't really think it was going to be really really sad. My apologizes. Here this chapt. Is a little happier. Hopefully. And yes I actually asked the writer of Kidnapping skipper if I could use Destiny in my story. And of course she said yes or destiny would not be in my story.

When Max next awoke the storm was over. So he took Skipper and Destiny home. Sasha was there and started to question him.

"Where were you?" She demanded.

"I went to find _my_ kids. Because _I _care about them." Max retorted. Where did she think he went? He didn't like her. Even a little. She didn't care about them. Any of them.

He put them in their beds and went back to the main room. He wanted to talk to Sasha. There was something wrong with her and it was starting to annoy him. He gave her a chance. But she blew it.

He walked in and saw her. She stared at him with eyes of flame. He didn't know if talking to her was such a good idea now.

She walked up to him, and he could've sworn that she was about to explode. Her eyes were full of anger, her flippers curled into fists, plus the fact that she was breathing hard. Angrily. He had a bad feeling about what was about to happen. But he remained calm. Thankfully. He knew better than to talk to someone who is already on edge. He learned this from dealing with his boss. If you don't say the right thing, WAM! And you were dizzy and nauseous for the next three hours. So max didn't say anything.

Sasha stared at him for a few more minutes. "Maxwell," That had really started to annoy Max. But he didn't say a thing.

"Maxwell, let me explain something to you, kay. I know that you don't want me here. And I know that you think that you could take care of those… things-"

"Kids." Max corrected. They were kids. Not brats, not pests, and not just…things. They were kids. His kids.

But Max only made her temper worse.

"Listen Maxwell, I'm warning you. Those things that you call children, don't mean anything to me. Got it! Nothing. And neither. Do. You," She did sound threatening. But she also sounded like she was trying to torment him. She was inches way from Max's face. But he stood straight. Almost unchanged. She just told him what he figured out the first day they met. There was a different reason to why she was here. And in no way was it to help Max. He knew it. Something about that thought scared him. It made his stomach turn. Because if she wasn't here for the kids. And she wasn't here for him. Than what did she hope to gain by coming here?

Sasha grinned. Max could almost see the wheels in her head turn as she thought about what she would say next. Max was almost afraid of what she would say next. She was messed up. There was something mentally wrong with this woman. Max could feel it. He just didn't have much to back up that feeling.

"Max do you know why I'm here?" She asked, like this was just a game to her. Like this was her sick way to have fun.

Max didn't answer. He didn't. But he almost didn't want to know either.

"Because now I have now worries. Do you want to know why I have no worries Max?" Sasha continued,

"N-no. I…I don't." Max replied. He didn't really. Well half of him did. And half of him didn't. He wished he had listened to the half that did.

Sasha wacked Max. He didn't know if she punched him or slapped him. All he knew was that it hurt. And sent him to the ground. He sat there and rubbed his eye, where she hit him. Sasha knelt down and looked Max straight in the eye. He wasn't scared. Just startled and severely confused. He really hadn't expected that. His breathing became abnormal. And his eyes showed fear. He was, now, slightly afraid. And he looked it. Sasha smiled. This was fun for her. She liked seeing Max scared and confused. That fact just made Max's fear worse.

She laughed to herself. "Oh, did that hurt. I'm sorry." She taunted. Max knew she really didn't care.

"Are you going to give me the correct answer now?"She said, with fake sympathy. "Well?"

"G-g-g-g-g-go, g-go on." Max couldn't regain control of his voice. He just got conformation that this woman was sick. Max thought that he was cursed to get this woman appointed as his new partner. What were they thinking?

"Well then, Maxwell do you know who I am?" She didn't give him time to answer. "I am one of the kings most trusted body guards. And poor me, I don't get paid all too much. It was a choice of mine own. Last week they let me change my pay. It was a dream. But because I was appointed to you, I didn't think I needed a whole lot. So I told them to cut my salary in half. Do you see what I'm getting at Maxwell? I can't help you. Poor you. I need my stones for my needs. So I agreed to help you with one thing that day. Well forget okay dear. I'll keep my stones for me. And you pay for the rest. That seems fair no"

Max couldn't believe his ears. Did she just tell him that he had to pay for him, Skipper, Destiny, and now her too? Plus food and the house and still have something left to save up if Skipper or destiny got sick or injured? Was she insane! He couldn't provide all of that all by himself. They were barely getting by when Gabriel was alive. She had to give him something. She would have to pay for herself. Even if he fished the food.

"You're not going to help? At all?" Max asked, calmly with hints of terror and confusion in his voice.

"I can't." Sasha said, with fake concern. Max knew that she could. But he wasn't sure he could get her to.

"You have to find stones to pay them for yourself."Max argued. There was no way on earth he could pay for it all by himself. He was still scared.

"You're not getting it Maxwell. I only agreed to this because I didn't want to pay anymore. So I'll make a deal with you. You pay and I'll tell them I want to stay and the little brats stay here with you. That's far isn't it?" Then she left. She just walked out. Leaving max, sitting in the room, alone, frustrated.

Everyone was using them. Everyone was using his heart to make things go their way. The guards used Skipper and Destiny, and stressed his heart. And now this sick minded penguin used them to make him pay. And he would. He would obey because he couldn't lose them. That would break his heart.

~~~~~~Present time~~~~~~~

"Well that's not fair." Private stated. It wasn't fair to use some ones heart against them. To make them do what you wanted them to do.

"Nope. But he had to do what he needed to. And then wasn't the time to start arguing with her. He didn't get much of a chance either." Skipper replied. He didn't like her. Even now, years later, she stilled scared him. If she showed up now, he would have a heart attack.

"Skipper?" Kowalski asked. Skipper seemed to be looking more and more worn out as the prelude to his nightmare continued. In other words he needed sleep. "Have you slept lately?"

Skipper just stared at him. What would make him ask that question now? It was out of the blue. But Skipper answered, it was the truth too. "Not really. Why?" He asked slowly, confused.

"Well you look like you could use a nap." Kowalski informed,

Skipper thought about that. He could use a nap. He welcomed the idea. He felt extremely tired. But stopping now would just be, awkward. "I guess I could. But I don't think I will."

Kowalski didn't blame him. He wouldn't really want to sleep if slumber came with a nightmare. So he let Skipper continue. Private seemed to forget his question.

~~~~~~Past~~~~~

Max didn't sleep that night. How could he? Collection day was tomorrow. He didn't have enough stones. And he was nervous. Afraid of what would happen tomorrow. Plus his eye hurt.

Skipper and Destiny both dreamed about their mother. They were good dreams. Skipper almost cried when the morning bell woke him up. He liked his dream.

He walked over to Destiny's room. She was half sleeping. He could tell because she was a restless sleeper and right now she was absolutely still. She had liked her dream too. Skipper would let Max wake her up. She almost never let him wake her up.

He walked into the main room and saw Max pacing back and forth. Gabriel used to do that when they were a few stones short. But the collector would stand there, fire eyed, until they showed him that they didn't have any more. Then he would right on a piece of paper how many pieces short they were and hand it to Gabriel. The next collection day they would have to put the number of stones written on the paper, in the collection bag before putting in ones that counted for that month. And you couldn't lie to the collectors.

Skipper had seen it happen many times before. They would get handed the paper and Gabriel would sit down in a chair and sigh. Skipper could tell that it was stressing to get a piece of paper.

Skipper walked out to Max. "It's ok Pap we can do it." He said, trying to reassure him. They would eventually be able to do it.

"No. No we can't." Max said stressing out. He didn't think about collection day until Sasha mentioned stones. He didn't think they could do it. Then he looked at Skipper. Who's eyes doubled in size when he saw Max's face.

"Papa! Your eye! It's-i-I-It's-" Skipper shouted. Max's entire eye was black and swollen. Skipper never saw anything like that before. It was startling. It concerned him. It looked like it hurt. But Skipper didn't know what it was.

"Swollen." Max finished for him. "Don't worry Skipper it will be gone in a few days. Now hurry up to school. You guys are going to be late.

"Destiny's still sleeping papa." Skipper informed. Still startled by his eye.

Max sighed. When would he get a break? "Destiny! You're late let's go!" He shouted. They really needed to get to school. They were lagging behind in school work. And being late for school wouldn't help.

"Skipper go get your backpacks." Max commanded. And for all the stress that he had taken up in the last week. He was proud to say his voice still held a soft tone towards Skipper and Destiny. Unless they did something bad in school.

"Ok Papa." Skipper went and got their backpacks. When he got Destiny's He noticed that she still wasn't moving. "Come on Deedee we're going to be late." She just moaned.

He went back to the main room with the backpacks. "Papa, She didn't move. Not one bit." He informed. He didn't like being late for school. It was embarrassing to walk in late because everyone stared at you for a good three minutes.

Max went into her room and picked Destiny up by her foot.

She stared at him with sleepy eyes.

"You're late. And you're making me late. Go Destiny. Your brother is waiting for you." Max explained.

"But I'm sleepy Papa." Destiny complained.

Max put her down onto the ice floor. "I know sweaty but you still have to go to school. Now come on. Wake you tail up and get going."

She sighed and walked to the door. She grabbed her backpack from Skipper and left. They arrived at school a few minutes later. The doors were closed so school had already started.

"Good luck. And I'm sorry." Destiny knew it would be just as bad for Skipper as it would be for her. Yup, they were scared to walk another inch. Kids are cruel creatures. Very cruel creatures.

"You too." Then they walked into the school.

~~~~Present`~~~~~~~

"Yeah that was a nightmare. I think I was put in the class with the cruelest of cruel kids." Skipper explained. He really didn't like that day. It was a pain to remember. It wasn't difficult to remember. It just wasn't a very good memory.

"Why do you say that Skippah?" Private asked. Not all kids are cruel. Skipper had said that this was just what happened before his real nightmare. But it could be a whole other nightmare all by itself. This part of his childhood was just riddled with misery. He felt bad for Skipper. But Skipper was a good guy. So it couldn't be a completely life scaring experience.

"Well, let's see. I got laughed at, called every name under the sun, the teacher did nothing, absolutely nothing, they all stared at me for well over half and hour, oh and not to mention the fact that I got attacked after school. Kids are cruel creatures Private. Very cruel creatures." Skipper had forgiven those kids long ago. But the memory still kind of angered him.

"And you didn't know how to fight yet right?" Kowalski guessed that Skipper only learned how to fight after he met Manfredi and Johnson.

"That's correct. By the end of the next day. I was well aware of the definition of 'black eye'. My father didn't like what he was when we came that day. Jeez it looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Well now remembering it, his face was priceless. Then it was just terrifying to see him look at you like that."

~~~~~~~Past~~~~~~~

I don't wanna go inside. It'll scare him." Skipper begged Destiny. He didn't want to go in and face his father.

"Then what are we supposed to do? Stay out here all night?" She argued. "Don't you think he'll notice that we're not there?"

"Hopefully no?" Skipper really didn't want show Max his eye.

"Look I saved you. You owe me." Skipper hated what she was getting at. "Now in order for you to pay me off, you have to do one thing that I tell you to do. Without complaining." She told him. He wasn't going to hide a black eye from Max. He would notice it. He cared. Almost as much as their mother had. It was amazing how fast he stepped up and filled her place. Not fully but very close to filler her place entirely.

Skipper gulped. He knew what she was going to do. And he didn't like it. "What am I supposed to do for you?"

"I want you to open that door and show Papa your face." She concluded.

"No he can't" Skipper pleaded. He didn't want Max to get worried about him. Max was under enough stress as it was.

But Destiny just pointed towards the door, in a demanding way.

Skipper had to honor the IOU rule. So he went to the door, opened it, and who he was looking for was sitting at the table directly ahead of him.

"P-p-papa. I can't see." That's how Skipper decided to say it. He knew what was wrong. The kid told him that he would have a black eye in the morning. He really hated to get his father worried if he didn't want to. Because like his mother, Max sometimes cared way too much. He looked up from the little piece of paper that he was staring at, Skipper guessed t was the collectors paper, and like Skipper did that morning, His eyes grew twice their size when he was Skippers eye.

"Skipper what happened?" He asked, walking over. He sounded concerned, but not as frantic as Skipper thought he would be. Skipper could tell that he cared, but he would get it taken care of. Not like when some one's frantic about an injury. They give the victim a feeling that the job won't be done right.

"They don't like me Papa." Skipper replied. "They called me names and hurt me, and they laughed at me Papa." Skipper wanted to cry. He never wanted to go back to school. He thought that his life was turning into a continuous, downward spiral. And he hated it.

"I'm sorry Skipper. I shouldn't have sent you two to school. Go get some ice." They both had black eyes now. Max hoped that Destiny didn't have one too.

"Destiny, come in here!" He shouted. He knew that she was hiding outside. He didn't want her to be hurt too. He couldn't take it.

She walked in and what Max saw almost killed him. There was a red ring around her neck. Someone choked her. They weren't going back to school alone tomorrow. This isn't acceptable. The adults should have done something. That fact that they didn't frustrated him.

"What happened Destiny? What did they do to you?" Max asked, he was really sorry for sending them to school. But they never blamed him. Even though, it _was_ really his fault. He knelt down and looked her in the eye. Not like he did when he questioned them, and how Sasha did to him either. He couldn't find any anger towards them at the moment. He needed to take care of them right now.

"She put her flippers around my neck. I couldn't breathe Papa." She squeaked. Her throat hurt. And was starting to crack. She was afraid to go back to school. She never wanted to go back. Never. She wanted to cry. But couldn't. After all of the tears that fled her eyes in the past two weeks, she had no tears left to cry. None at all.

Neither did Skipper who came back into the room. He was carrying two nice sized pieces of ice. He noticed Destiny's neck but didn't think to mention it. But he brought her a piece of ice. He thought it would help.

He smiled and handed one to her. "I got a piece for you, Destiny." He told her. He had a feeling she would need one.

"Aw. Thanks Skipper." She was glad that there were still people that loved her. That cared. That was important.

Skipper thought about the day. About what his mother told him. He wouldn't make friends. He would never make any friends. Everyone hated him. For no reason. He was confused and hurt at the same time. How could people hate you for no reason? There was always a reason. There always had to be a reason. But he couldn't even protect himself against bullies. How could he stop evil if he couldn't stop a simple bully? She believed in him. Maybe she was right. Maybe he would eventually be brave and strong enough to vanquish evil. But right now… he thought it was impossible. So he promised himself. He promised that in honor of his mother, one day… one day he would be strong enough. One day he would be brave enough to fight crimes. But that wasn't today. That day seemed far away.

Max was having trouble containing his anger. So he sent them to bed. He thought out the next days' plan. He would talk to the teachers all of them.

Skipper and Destiny didn't wake up at the morning bell the next morning. Max let them sleep.

He had walked to the school early that morning and talked to the teachers. Apparently the kids had left messes for every teacher to clean up. Max knew they were telling the truth. The classrooms were still full of paint. And glue, glitter and paper. Max offered to help clean. So for the next three hours he helped the teachers, and Bill clean the school rooms. When he told them about the attacks they responded with looks of regret, fear and concern. They didn't know. Well that explains why they didn't stop it. They apologized and gave Skipper and Destiny the day off from school. Then, After the school was back to its' plain, boring, white color, And after Max had a good talk with the teachers, he went home. The morning bell rang a few minutes later.

Skipper and Destiny slept half of the day. After a few hours of waiting Max went to work. He left a note, telling where he was. But if he was going to pay the collector the amount he owed next month, he would have to start working harder.

Before he left, the gaurds came to check on Sasha.

"Where are you going commoner?" One asked blankly. No emotion at all.

"Work." Max answered, mimicking the guards tone.

"We came to check up on Sasha." The other one informed. Max had noticed over the years, that the guards liked to travel in pairs. He didn't know they followed the buddy system. Max almost laughed at that. Grown men using the buddy system. He had to swallow the laughter to escape these guys without incident.

"Yes. She's been fitting in quite well, actually. I've been wondering when you guys would come check up on her." Max remained calm. He was nervous. He was already severely late for work. He didn't have time for this.

"Good. Why are you still home commoner?" The guard asked. He still showed no wmotion. But he did seem curious. Almost too curious. But Commoners were usually at work by now so they had a reason.

"It's personal." Max replied. Guards had no right to any civilians personal information, or events. The guards stared at him for a few moments.

"I have to get to work." Max said, walking past them.

The guards left. Max a found that all officials, like a hard working man. He had a reason to work hard. Therefore a weakness. Everyone seemed to know his. So he didn't really try to hide it anymore.

Max was still at work when Skipper and Destiny woke. They read the note it explained why Max wasn't there. Then they played a game called strategist play. It was a game that you made up from the very beginning. Usually used for training the minds of young combat trainees. But the game found its way into Skipper and Destiny's home via Gabriel. They loved it. It was a good time waster because the whole game usually lasted anywhere from three to seven hours. Depending on strategist level.

The game was used to enhance ones ability to come up with effective strategies. The object of the game was to battle you opponent using the best strategy that you could come up with. Like chess. Only there was usually only one player per team. And you were trying to take over you opponents base. It was like capture the flag in a way. But it wasn't 'tag you're out'. You had your choice of three weapons. There were usually ten. A bow and arrows, a sword, a knife, an ax, a pile of rock hard ice blocks, a shield, a spear, a catapult with fifteen pikes to launch, and a spiked frisbe. All of this was made by Gabriel and was hidden in a secret basement under their house. They were the only ones with a basement. The basement was the field. Nothing left the basement.

Skipper and Destiny played Strategist Play until Max came home. Then they went to bed. After Sasha came home of course. She harassed them by telling them that she was the boss and what not. Of course because of this Skipper and Destiny went to bed with depression. She wanted them to be upset. Mission complete.

Max almost blew up at her. But he didn't. He didn't want to end up on the floor again.

Next chapter promises to be happy!


	6. A good memory

Things weren't Much better in the morning.

"Maxwell…"

"IT IS MAX!" Max hated being called Maxwell. He let her get away with it for the past week. He hoped that she'd change and call him Max. But that wasn't happening. And he didn't like the name Maxwell.

~~~~~~~Present~~~~~  
"Why?" Private asked. It was just a name. He didn't understand how someone could hate a name. Id didn't make sense.

Skipper sighed. Private asked too many questions. But it was an innocent question. So he had no reason not to answer it. Except the fact that he really didn't want to. And it was a little personal. But skipper would feed Privates curiosity. He wouldn't tell just anyone. He looked over to Kowalski and Rico, they looked curious too. He looked back into the fire. He didn't even know if his father was still alive. But he didn't think he have a major problem if Skipper told them. He was trying not to invade his fathers' personal information. But he told them, Skipper and his sister. So how personal could it be?

"Maxwell was his fathers' name." Skipper explained. "Now before you say anything let me explain. Maxwell named my father Max because he wanted him to be like him. But Max, my father, didn't like the idea. Maxwell was a crime boss. He stole, kidnapped and held people for ransom, and killed. My father didn't want to do that. He wanted a simple, normal, happy life. The truth was, he couldn't do it. He had too much heart to. He…well I guess he just cared too much. He had the heart that Maxwell hatched without. Maxwell was executed in the middle of the kingdom when my father was young. Old enough to live alone, but technically he wasn't ready to be alone. He managed, obviously. But he didn't like his father. The man was a stranger to him. He had help though. When my mother found out she married him. Just like that. She felt bad for the guy. I told you her heart was full of kindness.. So that's what happened with that." Skipper finished.

"Childhood happiness doesn't run in your family does it Skipper?" Kowalski asked. His father didn't have a very good childhood. He didn't either.

"No not really." Skipper replied.

"Id che it m?" Rico asked.

"Well…..

~~~~~~Past~~~`~`~

"Excused me!" Sasha screamed. "Who the heck do you think you are! I make the orders around here! And I WILL call you whatever I want got it. MAXWELL!"

"No you will call me Max not Maxwell!" Max shouted back.

Skipper and Destiny were once again hiding in the hallway.

"I've never heard Papa so mad." Skipper said. Max was a kind calm soul. He rarely screamed. It was startling to hear him scream.

"No. He doesn't scream. Never ever." Destiny agreed. They kept listening. They were curious to know what was going to happen. They didn't want max to get hurt. But they wanted to know what all the screaming was about.

"YOU won't tell me what to do! You don't have the authority commoner!" Sasha shouted.

Now Max saw it. She didn't think of him as a partner. It was like his house had been raided by a guard. Well that made him feel slightly lower than he had in the past few days. He had let his families worst fear nest in their home. Their sanctuary. Their safe haven. Now it wasn't safe anymore. It wasn't home. And it was all his fault. Unfortunately this only made him angrier. "You don't have the right woman!" This really wasn't like him. Oh what the wonders of insomnia can do. That was it too. He was so tired he couldn't think straight.

She growled. Then everything fell silent. "What does that mean?" Skipper whispered.

"I don't know." Destiny replied.

Sasha had heard them. Max didn't.

"Show a little respect for your new partner Max." Sasha said with fake emotion. She sounded hurt.

Skipper and Destiny were confused. She was screaming not two minutes ago. What happened.

"Partner." Max spat. "Yeah right."

"That is right Max." Sasha said calmly as she walked towards the hallway. She didn't like eaves droppers.

"Max, are you going to respect me?"

Max hesitated. He tried to think. But it was no use. "Not in your life time." He responded. Furiously.

She was right outside the hallway, "No? Well, we'll see about that.

Skipper thought that her voice sounded awfully close. But couldn't figure out why.

Destiny knew though, "Um Sk-S-Sk-Skipper. Um look up." She said fearfully.

He did. And when he saw her his heart stopped. "Oh um."

"I caught you brats." She whispered evilly. "Max are you sure you don't want to respect me?" She gave him one more chance.

"Yeah I'm sure." He sounded confident. He didn't know that what was about to happen. And quite frankly, neither did Skipper or Destiny.

"Suit yourself." She said casually. Then she grabbed Skipper and Destiny, who then screamed in terror, by their legs and held them up, for Max to see.

He froze, confidence gone, a deer in headlights. His heart stopped, or skipped some beats because he felt like he was a going to pass out. How did she get them? Most important, what was she going to do with them. Max, like Skipper and Destiny, felt fear slowly consuming his thought process. Only his fear was protective. But he almost knew what she wanted before she even asked.

"Now-"

"Ok I'll do. Whatever it is I'll do it. Just let them go." Max pleaded. He didn't whine. His voice was even, not high pitched nor strong. But it was a pleading voice. They had suffered enough pain already.

Skipper and Destiny were shaking from head to toe. Terror didn't even come close to haw scared they felt. It was like watching a fireball come flying at you when you couldn't move. Sasha being the fireball. And fear being the chains that kept you from moving. They were wishing that they had stayed in bad. Sleeping. Not being held up by this monster. She could do anything to them. There's a terrifying thought. Pain was a game that they could live without.

Sasha just smiled, and threw them at Max. He of course caught them. And they immediately burst into tears. They were scared. Terrified. They wanted this nightmare to be over. They wanted the tirade of unpleasant feelings and events to end. They didn't want to cry anymore. They didn't want to be afraid.

But right now, as they calmed down, they did feel safe. The home that protected them wasn't gone. It was just smaller. And they were sitting in it right now. It was Max. He could protect them. Skipper and Destiny were right. Max didn't need help. He didn't need Sasha. All he needed was them. And all they needed was him. They knew. At that moment they knew. Because they felt right. It felt like they were where they belonged. They felt like a family. All emotions seemed to fade away. All of them, until calmness was all that was left. And they stayed like that long past the bell. Because, that was the feeling that they were looking for since Gabriel passed. And truthfully, they didn't want to let it go. The three of them could stay like that forever. It was the feeling. That feeling, that calm feeling that they hadn't felt is such a long time. This was a time to cherish. It was a time to enjoy while it lasted. Because with that psycho in the house, this time that they had together, this calmness, this long needed calmness, would be short lived. Skipper didn't want to think about her. He didn't want to think at all. He would be happy if they _did_ stay here all day. Destiny did too. And Max…Max just wanted them to be happy. That wasn't too much to ask was it? He didn't ask for any of this. They needed something to hold on to. A good memory. But they never had a calm moment to remember one.

That's when Max got the idea. He would take them to the mountain. There was a mountain. An ice mountain near the kingdoms gate. But it was outside the barriers. It was the only Mountain that was unclaimed by any tribe or kingdom. Because it was a masterpiece. It was a perfect circle. The mountain had a hole in the top. It had no peak. It was marvelous. But long ago when the kingdoms and tribes were being formed, a rule was written. The rule or law stated that no kingdom or tribe shall ever claim ownership of this mountain. It would be free for all to see. Free for all. It was the only thing in Antarctica that was free. But it was simply marvelous. There were many caves that connected the outside world to the inside of the mountain. Inside was magic. Most call it magic because there was a lake. Not a frozen lake, a lake where the water wasn't frozen at all. In fact the water wasn't even surrounded by ice. It was instead incased in rock. The lake was named Free Fighters Pond.

Free Fighters Pond was tree hundred thousand feet in diameter. And two hundred, fifty thousand feet down. About halfway down was an underwater cavern. The cavern led to another cave, this one was above ground. And that cave. That cave led to the Floresta De Espera. The forest of hope. This was a real forest. With trees and bushes, dirt and grass. It even housed some mammals native to the forests. Some say that the animals that thrive in the Floresta de espera, were dumped here to die. But instead found the forest. The forest was said to be on top of a sleeping volcano. That is where it got its warmth. And the whole in the top of the mountain provided the sunlight. It was quite the beautiful sight.

And Skipper and Destiny would be amazed. They would love it. It was the perfect memory to make. They would only need seconds to remember it.

"Hey, guys." Max whispered softly.

"Yes Papa." They replied sleepily.

"Do you want to see something?" He asked.

Skipper lifted his head and looked into his father's eyes. Max smiled, he was cute. That's the only way to put it. What Skipper did was downright adorable.

"What is it Papa?" He asked innocently. He didn't want to move but he did want to know what Max was talking about.

"It's a surprise." Max replied.

"Oh you gotta tell us Papa." Destiny chimed in. She looked up at him. Adorable? Yes.

"Nope it's a surprise." Max said secretively.

"Please Papa? Could you give us a hint?" Destiny pleaded. Curiosity killed the cat because the cats curiosity wasn't fed.

"Yeah Papa you could give us a hint." Skipper agreed. He wanted to know what the surprise was. He just had to see it.

"Nope." Max replied. He smiled. They were getting restless. That made him happy. It meant that they weren't upset or scared. That was good.

Skipper and Destiny were dying to know what the surprise was. The suspense was killing them. Maybe it was a present or a toy. Or maybe they would get rid of Sasha. That would be nice. She was the cause of most of the recent upsets. Including Max's. Or maybe it was a trip. But to where? Skipper and Destiny knew all too well that they were about to become peasants. That's what the king called the poor. So where would the trip be to? Everything had to be paid for. And Max stilled owed money from the past week. There was collection day every two weeks. How could Max afford to take them anywhere?

So they thought that they were definitely not going on a trip. But what could it be?

"Then can you show us Papa?" Skipper asked excitedly.

"It will take quite a bit of walking." Max warned.

"Ok Let's go!" They said in unison. They jumped up and ran for the front door. Max grabbed them though.

"Hold on you two." Max laughed, "You don't know where you're going. You can't just run out the door." Max smiled at them. "I have to go first."

"Papa." Skipper laughed. "You can't run out the door holding us."

"Yeah Papa. Then we won't be able to." Destiny giggled. This was almost a game. It was fun.

"Ok." Max put them down and then all three of then ran out the door. Sasha was still in the house. And still mad as a bat. But they didn't care. They would be spending the day away from her.

They first went to Max's job, where Skipped and Destiny pulled off their cute charm and asked for their father to get the day off. Cuteness won and Max was rewarded the day off. He knew he would have to make up for it.

Then they walked. They walked toward the Kingdoms gate.

"Papa? Why did they make her stay with us?" Skipper asked.

"Because they don't thing males or guys can take care of children by themselves. They don't watch to see if that's right or not. They just assume." Max explained. It was all he could do not to sound ticked. He hated being put into a group that he didn't belong to. He could take care of them on his own. That's exactly what he had been doing. Sasha was just another obstacle that he had to protect them from.

"Why not?" Destiny asked.

"Because. They are lazy. They don't want to take the time to look and see if a female is needed." Max replied.

"Who's they?" Skipper asked.

"They are the consults. The kings advisors. They are the one that advise the king to make certain rules. Rules that we must follow whether we like them or not."

"So we don't get to tell the king what we want or don't want? We don't get to talk to him?" Skipper asked.

"Well we're not allowed to. We'd get arrested. Only the rich can talk to him." Max put his head down in shame, "And we're borderline poor."

"But that's not your fault Papa." Destiny stated, "Is it?"

"No. I don't think so. I've tried. I didn't want this to happen. Being in the middle was fine with me. But I guess we always did lean towards the poor side."

"That's ok. Money makes penguins mean and greedy. Some poor are greedy. Most of them are nice though." Skipper informed.

"How do you know that?" Max asked.

"Look Papa. We're in their part of town. They look like nice penguins.. Their poor but their smiling and being friendly towards each other."

Max looked up. Skipper was right. They were in the poor side of town. There were small maybe two room houses, one little shop with what looked to be not very healthy foods. Or just rotting ones and one little shop that had a red X on it. But the food and other stuff looked fine. It looked like something the rich would have in their side of town. Must've been the black market. Or someone stealing things and giving them away because penguins were just walking up and taking things. Max never went to the poor side of town. Now he wished he had.

"Papa. I don't think I'd mind being poor." Skipper said.

"No?"

"Nope. I think I'd like it."

"Me too Papa." Destiny agreed.

"You know what guys. I don't think I would mind it. It would be something new." Max stated. He actually believed that. Maybe it would be ok if they drifted to the poor side of town.

"But not today Right Papa?" Destiny happily.

"Right. But that day may be coming sooner than you know."

"Ok Papa." Skipper replied.

"For now, we went the wrong way. So in order for us to get to our destination we must turn around." Max informed.

"OK." They answered. In unison again. Maybe two great minds _do _think alike.

So they walked the other way.

"Why doesn't the king talk to everyone?" Skipper asked. He had been thinking about it and it bothered him. If he king listened to the rich why didn't listen to everyone? It just didn't make sense. The king ruled everyone. He should talk to everyone no? He should.

"I really can't answer that Skipper. If I knew I would certainly tell you." Max replied. It had been bothering him too.

"So if we asked to talk to the king they would say no?" Destiny asked confused.

"No they might arrest you. But they may just give you a warning." Max explained.

"Who's they?" Skipper asked.

"The guards, or the consults." Max informed.

"So what would happen if they heard you talk about the king?" Skipper asked.

"They might throw you in a cell." A voice rang out behind them. All three of them spun around without a second thought. They saw a guard. A big one. Staring at them. But he didn't look angry. He didn't glare at them or growl. He actually smiled at them. They stared back at him with shocked expressions.

"What? I'm not going to do that to you." He said defensively. "That's just what happened to me. Besides you guys are having an innocent conversation. I mean it's not like you're planning on killing the guy." He laughed. This guy was friendly. That was the shocking part. Every guard that Max had ever met looked like they wanted to kill him. Well besides Gabriel, and now this guy. Skipper and Destiny had only met one nice guard and that was their mother. They continued to stare.

"Oh, I know. It was because I came up on ya so quietly isn't it?" He asked, "Well my name is Ronelado. But everyone calls me Bob." He said kindly.

"Bob?" Skipper asked. "I haven't heard that name before."

"Skipper." Max warned.

"What's the problem ..er"

"Max." Max said.

"Max. He can talk to me. I'm not going to hurt him." Bob reassured.

"You-you're not?" Max asked confused. Guards always demanded respect. They weren't the people you went to when you needed something.

"No. Why would I do that?" Bob asked. He actually seamed hurt.

"Because all the guards are mean and always want you to do what they say." Destiny explained. She was still a little scared. Skipper was too. But he was curious.

"Oh yeah those guys are a pain. I'll talk to them for you guys alright?" Bob said.

"Ok." Skipper replied. Happily.

"Thank you." Max said. He was greatfull to know that there was another good guard.

"I shall see you around Max." Bob said.

"You might." Max replied.

And then he left. The three of them stood there for a few minutes. There was a good guard.

There was hope.


	7. The king

They continued to walk towards the gate. They were talking not noticing the rest of the world. Max was going to give them a day off from sadness, depression, anger, and fear. And so far, he was succeeding. It was good to have at least one day to be happy and care free. Though Max knew he would get it when they returned.

"We don't have to return Papa." Skipper said. He didn't want to go back to _her_. It wasn't a pleasant idea. He didn't care if they never went back. He just knew that she was bad news. And they were better off without her.

"Yeah Papa. We could move to the poor penguins town. I would like that." Destiny added.

"No we can't do that. We would have to give the house to the king. And unless I'm there he can't take the house. It's the law." Max replied.

"I hate the King." Skipper said annoyed. There were too many rules and laws to follow. He honestly didn't know how Max remembered them all. There were a lot of them.

Just as Skipper said that he bumped into a guard. Max didn't see him. None of them did. They were focusing on other things.

The guard turned around and bent down to look Skipper in the eye. Skipper started shaking.

"What did you say boy?" He asked. He wasn't happy, and sounded evil too. And scary.

"I-I-" Skipper stammered.

"That's none of your business." Max said pulling Skipper and Destiny behind him. He never met Good friendly guards. He was starting to think there wasn't any. Well besides, Bob. And he was getting sick and tired of getting picked on. Being called 'just a commoner'. Their law system was corrupt. The wealthy made all the rules. Rules that made the commoners and poorer penguins suffer. And the king disliked anyone who wasn't a stone horder.

"Commoner. What are you doing in this side of town huh? You leaving?" The guard said evilly, stepping towards Max.

Max backed up each time the guard stepped forward.

"Naw he wouldn't dare leave the walls Joe. He wouldn't dare." Another one said, the same way the first guard did. He stood parallel to Max, on his left. Max turned so that he could see both guards. Keeping himself between them and Skipper and Destiny. And he continued to walk backwards as the second guard started walking toward him as well. They both had their spears armed. Like they would throw them at any moment.

Max was nervous. Not scared at all, which surprised him because he had a phobia of guards. He had Bob to blame for that. Not the phobia, the calmness. Well he wasn't calm but he wasn't afraid.

Skipper and Destiny hid behind their father. Stepping back as he did and shaking. They didn't like guards. Unlike Max, Bob hadn't fixed their guard phobias.

Then another guard joined in He was on Max's right. Max Had to turn again to see all three of them. He was staring straight at the first guard, but could see the other two, via his peripheral vision. Max didn't understand the fun these guards were getting out of this. It was torturous, well to a normal commoner it was torturous. To Max this was like three angry male Sasha's. The thought almost made him laugh. But now wasn't the time.

"Halt!" Rang a strong, fierce voice. It came from behind the guards and the crowd that Max didn't realize had formed. The crowd parted to give the man a path to the scene. It was the all mighty, rule happy king.

The guards relaxed their position. Skipper and Destiny pulled at their father to make him move. To make him run. But Max didn't budge. He did hold a tight grip on them, though. It didn't hurt them, they just couldn't break free. Before the King saw him, Max leaned down to them.

"You can't run away when the king approaches you. Please be still. I won't let him hurt you." Max whispered to Skipper and Destiny. They nodded ,fearfully, and he stood back up straight. They were still shaking. They didn't move from their spots behind Max. They were too scared to move. Max still had their flipper wrapped in his. They hugged his flippers behind his back. They were afraid of the king, and the guards.

The king walked up to Max. He didn't say anything to anyone after he told them to halt. Max bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut. He knew what was going to happen. The rich often sided with the guards even when they knew the guards were lying. They didn't like Commoners or poor penguins' and loved to see them suffer. It was like a sick twisted sport to them. Max didn't understand. Neither did Skipper and Destiny.

Max tried his best to calm his nerves. He was starting to shake.

"What happened here?" The king asked loudly. He sounded calm. Sort of in between. Like he wanted the truth and not some guards lie. But would believe the guards anyway.

"He was causing trouble." One of the guards spoke.

The others agreed with him. Max knew that was coming. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. A quiet breath.

The king looked at Max. Max had lifted his head and stared into the kings eyes. He never did that before. He had seen the king many times, when he came to consult with Gabriel. But never looked him in the eye once.

"And you peasant?" He asked.

"Commoner." Max corrected. He regretted it instantly.

"What?" The king asked angered.

"My apologizes' your majesty, but we are not poor. Yet." Max replied. He had never felt so small in his entire life. Skipper and Destiny felt like ants. So they understood how he felt completely.

"We?" He asked confused. "I see only one penguin before me. Where are the others?"

"Look down your majesty."

He did, and saw two little vibrating bodies. "Why are they feared, commoner?"

"You would not believe me your majesty." Max said, doubtful. He knew the king wouldn't believe him over his so called 'trusted men'. It was impossible.

"Do not talk to me that way commoner." He said angrily. "Answer my question, and do answer it with honesty."

"Your trusted men scared them." Max growled looking down.

"I said don't lie to me commoner!" The king yelled.

Max started backing up. "I-I am t-t-telling no lie. It is them, they are the ones who l-lie to you." Max said trying to get the three of them out of this situation. He was having major difficulties. And to add to it all, he too, was now shaking.

"How dare you accuse my men!"

"I-I am not accusing your majesty, I am being honest with you. I-I swear." It was hard not to scream at the king. How could he be so blind?

"No you are not commoner. And for that you will pay." He growled.

Max had frozen. This was going the wrong way. He was still shaking. Skipper and Destiny were still shaking as well. They were both terrified. They had their eyes squeezed shut, and a death grip on their father's flippers. Max looked down and closed his eyes as well.

"I meant no harm you majesty. I mean not to accuse." He explained, quietly. He had to get out of this.

"Wait. Look up commoner." The king commanded.

Max didn't want any more trouble so he obeyed. He looked up at the king. Pure fear in his eyes.

"I know you commoner." The king stated. "But where have I seen you before?"

Max held his stare at the king. "My wife." He said softly and sadly.

"Excuse me?"

"My wife, Gabriel." Max had to look down. He fought back the tears that her name summoned. And took a deep breath. "You came often to our home to talk with her."

"Ah you are Maxwell then." The king said, he seemed happy that he was able to figure that out.

"Please your majesty, don't call me Maxwell. My name is Max." Max thought it was a very simple thing to ask.

Skipper and Destiny were still terrified, standing behind their father, holding a death grip on him.

"Why must I call you Max commoner?" The king demanded. Angered. But he also sounded confused and curious.

"Maxwell was my father. I do not want his name. It is laced with his evil mindset. His twisted heart. I don't want his name." Max replied solemnly. He didn't like that memory. He had to watch some of his fathers' crimes.

"You are the son of Maxwell?" The king asked surprised.

Max nodded.

"Oh I see. Yes now I remember." The king stated. "Now it is my turn to apologize to you. Yes. My apologizes' to you commoner."

That surprised Max. He never heard the king apologize to anyone before.

"And how is she now?" The king asked.

He didn't know? How did he not know? Didn't anyone tell him?

"You don't know your majesty?" Max asked confused. His voice cracking. He could feel the tears swelling up in his eyes.

Skipper and Destiny already had crystal beads sliding down their feathers.

"What is it that I don't know?"

Max tensed, trying to hold back the tears. "She's gone." Max said with a cracked voice. He cleared his throat, "She's…. She's dead." He couldn't fight it any more. Silently, he let the tears fall. Keeping his head down so no one could see.

The king wasn't happy with this. Gabriel was his friend. Max knew by the way she could talk to him. "Why has no one informed me of this!" He shouted at the guards.

"We're sorry you majesty." They stammered. "We thought you knew."

He mumbled angrily under his breath. "Commoner, where were you headed?" The king demanded.

"Free Fighters Pond, your majesty." Max replied, still sad, and still with a slightly cracked voice.

"Then go. This no longer concerns you. But Max, though I am deeply sorry for your loss. This does not give you a free pass to do whatever it is that you want. You must act like a commoner. And you will be treated as one. Am I understood?"

"Yes your majesty." Max replied.

"Then go."

Max picked up Skipper and Destiny and ran. Straight out of the gates and further until he could see them no longer.

Skipper wanted to cry but he had no tears left to cry. He wanted to feel sad and scared but he was too sick of the two feelings to… feel them. His stomach hurt though. And his throat bothered him. Like his body wanted to cry but his brain wouldn't give it tears. And he was glad. He was still shaking. He was huddled into a ball in his fathers' arms. His father, who had learned to love so much in such a short period of time. He stopped fantasizing what it would be like if Gabriel was still there. Because she would have never let this happen. Skipper got angry at his father. But for only a second. Then he realized... He probably missed her too. And he didn't want this to happen. Skipper knew that.

Destiny felt the same way. Exactly.

They just sat in the middle of nowhere for a while. Until they calmed down.

"Why doesn't the King like us Papa?" Destiny asked. She didn't understand. Did wealth really decide who is important and trustworthy?

"I don't know Destiny. He- I just don't know." Max sighed. He wished he knew. But he didn't All he knew was that the King favored the wealthy and left the rest to fend for themselves. And of course pay him. But Max didn't know why. No one really did.

Skipper didn't want to talk about it anymore. The king didn't like them. That was it. They were commoners. Unwealthy commoners. He wanted to know what happened next. Because he didn't like talking about the King. There was no point in it. But he did want to know where Max was going to take them.

"Papa?" He asked, innocently.

"Yes." Max replied. Skipper and Destiny were two different penguins. They liked different things. Sometimes.

"Where were you going to take us?" Skipper asked curiously.

"Somewhere special." Max laughed. "You'll see." He was happy thinking about their reactions. He just knew that they would love this place.

Then they started to walk off again. The next time they stopped. They were at the mouth of an ice cave. And none of them could wait to get inside.


	8. hesitation

_**I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I'll try to update faster.(:D**_

Max lead them inside. The entrance was a normal Antarctica cave. Ice covering a cool smooth walkway. The ground was covered in snow, not the slippery ice.

When they reached the lake Skipper and Destiny froze. They had never seen anything so...big, and not white. What they saw was a gigantic room with a enormous lake that was perfectly round. And it had an island in the middle of it. The island was mostly a bark blue with patches of snow here and there. The ground around the lake was the same dark blue. But it didn't have any snow. And there were penguins. Many, many penguins swimming in the lake.

Max smiled. He'd hoped they'd like it.

"What is it Papa?" Skipper asked in amazement. He had never seen anything this size. He thought it was the coolest thing ever. A lake that was perfectly round. No lake was ever perfectly round. And all the penguins. There wasn't this many penguins in the Kingdom. Where did they all come from? Why were they all here? And what was here anyway.

"It's a lake." Max laughed. "It's called Free Fighters Pond."

"I thought you just said it was a lake Papa." Destiny said confused. He did say it was a lake. How can something be a lake and a pond at the same time?

"I did. And it was a lake. But the name of this lake is Free Fighters Pond." Max explained. He was glad that they were curious. But it scared him too. They could get into trouble if they were too curious.

"Oh. Why?" Destiny asked curiously. Why would they call a lake a pond? It didn't make much sense to her. If it was a lake why not call it Free Fighters Lake?

"Um. I guess they thought this was a pond when they first found it." Max said. He didn't know why they called it a pond. That's just what everyone called it. Free Fighters Pond.

"Can we swim in it Papa?" Skipper asked excitedly. He loved swimming. But he didn't get to do it much. He still loved swimming though.

"Sure, Skipper." Max said. "But this isn't the surprise." Max wanted to sow them the forest the _Floresta Da Esperanca. _A.K.A. the forest of hope. He knew the swim might be tough. But he knew they would make it. They were old enough now.

Skipper saw a black spot about half way down to the bottom. He walked up to the edge to get a better look. Many penguins were disappearing into it. It confused him. Was the hole sucking them up? Would they ever come back? No penguin was coming out of the hole.

"Papa? What's that black spot down there?" He asked innocently.

All children were innocent. But Max had never heard a more innocent little voice than Skippers. "That is a cave Skipper. In fact that is the cave that we are going to have to swim through to get to the real surprise." Max informed.

Skipper backed up to his father. "No, Papa. I-I-I can't swim that deep. I can't." Skipper knew he wouldn't be able to get that deep. He wasn't that good of a swimmer. He couldn't do it. He would drown. And he didn't want to drown. "I'm not good enough Papa. I'll drown."

Max just stared at Skipper.

Skipper caught his eyes and they stared into each others eyes for a minute or two.

Max couldn't believe what he was hearing.

~~~~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He just couldn't believe I told him that." Skipper said. This was turning out to be easier than he expected. But this wasn't the nightmare. And he was getting closer and closer to the actual nightmare. "He knelt down to me and said, 'Don't tell me that Skipper. I know you can. You love swimming. And you won't drown. Even if you can't make it. There are many others here. One of them will stop, if I don't, and take you back to the surface. So don't worry.' I believed him. -"

Skipper was going to continue, but he heard something. Like feet. He heard a very faint, _pat, pat, pat. _It sounded like someone was coming. And he wasn't going to continue talking if someone else was there. He got up and looked around. He didn't walk anywhere, but scanned the room with his eyes. He prepared himself for an intruded. It would most likely be the lemurs or Marlene.

Kowalski, Rico, and Private got up and followed Skippers gaze at the door. Curious to why he was staring at it. A few minutes later their curiosities were met.

Marlene barged into the room and stormed right up to Skipper. "What's your deal?" She demanded. "I come ask a few questions and you act like the world just ended." The fire made shadows cascade on her face, adding to the anger she seemed to be radiating.

"Marlene-" Kowalski started. But she cut him off.

"Don't start with me Kowalski." Marlene snapped. She wasn't happy. Kowalski had gotten her very annoyed. She was irritated that they had told her off that morning.

"Marlene, now's not the best time." Skipper said, with a voice that sounded both tired and depressed. He didn't mean to sound that way. He was actually aiming for a calm even voice. But he failed. He was nervous. Did Marlene hear anything?

"What's your deal? What's with the sad depressed mood?" Marlene demanded.

Skipper didn't know what to say. He was so startled by Marlene's reaction. By how she just appeared. "Marlene," Skipper sighed. She wasn't going to go away. But he had to try. "Could you just come back later. A long time later. We're in the middle of something." He didn't try to keep the tiredness and depression out of his voice. He was too… tired to try.

A low growl sprouted in Marlene's throat. "I'll be back Skipper." She hissed. Then she left, slamming the door.

Skipper stood there a while after she left. Then he looked at Kowalski. "What did you do?" He asked. He couldn't help it. She seemed slightly less angered at Kowalski than she was at himself. And he was curious about why. He didn't even know why she was so mad at him, how was he supposed to know why she was mad at Kowalski?

"I told her to go away. I was as polite as possible. But she wouldn't leave so I got more demanding. That's it." Kowalski said defensively. It was her fault for not leaving. He didn't know why she was so mad.

"Then what got her so angry?" Skipper asked confused. Marlene was an easygoing person. Most of the time. What happened to acting with love?

Kowalski shrugged how was he supposed to know?

After a few minutes they sat back down around the fire and Skipper returned to his nightmare prelude.

~~~~~~~~~Past~~~~~~~~~~

"But Papa-" Skipper started to argue. He was terrified. He didn't want to swim that deep. He didn't think he could do it.

Max smiled at him. "Skipper, you can do this." Max grabbed Skippers arms as he said that. He wanted Skipper to have confidence in himself. "Don't think about how deep it is. Think about the water. Concentrate on holding your breath and swimming. Then it won't be as deep as it seems ok?"

Skipper stared into his fathers eyes. They were a wonderful blue eyes the color of ice burgs. They showed emotions very well. When Skipper gazed into his eyes when he told them Mama was dead they showed sadness. But he had held it back so he and his sister could cry. And he could be there for them. They showed fear when Sasha held them. And relief when he had them in his arms again. And now, as Skipper stared into his fathers brilliant eyes, they showed only care and love. They showed that he would save Skipper if he needed to. It was his eyes that always helped Skipper chose his final decision. Even when his mother was alive, his fathers' eyes helped him decide. But his mothers eyes did too. Now they seemed to help him more than ever. They helped him stay calm… better than his mothers did. They were soft. He really did take up his mother responsibility real well. And filled her place almost completely. Max had made grieving his mother more, livable. He made living without her less hard than it should've been. He went above and beyond what any normal father would do. It proved how much he really did love Skipper and Destiny. He made everything that they were going through right now easier than it would've been if he didn't care this much.

That made Skipper feel very good. Very happy. He liked knowing just how much his father really loved him. Just like his mother said. Some love is hidden in actions a person makes. That as how his father showed a lot of his love for him and his sister. He took care of them. He protected them. But he also talked to them. He understood. That was a form of love too.

And looking into his fathers eyes brought back those realizations.

He smiled at his father with confidence. "Ok Papa." He said. "I'll give it a good try."

Max laughed. "good." He said. Then he turned to Destiny. He knew she would have at least a little thought that he had forgotten about her. Although he knew that she knew better, he also knew that she was still young. And would still want attention too. "And you. You have to only think about holding your breath and swimming too. Think about what you'll find on the other side of that cave. Imagine what is on the other side."

They both imagined. And then became more restless than ever.

"Come on Papa." Destiny pushed.

"We have to find out Papa." Skipper said hurriedly.

They both wanted to find out more than ever now.

"Alright, alright." Max laughed at how restless they were becoming. He knew they wouldn't be disappointed.

He took them both by the hand and walked towards the water.

They counted down from three.

"Three, two, one." Then they all dived into the water.

~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~

"We counted down from three then dived into the water. Headed towards the cave. It still looked like a black hole what we reached it. Didn't look like a cave at all" Skipper continued.

Unbeknownst to him, Marlene stood outside of the door she had just slammed and listened. Skipper was telling a story? About his past it seemed. But why? Marlene couldn't figure it out. But she would listen. Until the story telling ended. Or she got caught. Either way. She was going to stand there and listen, silently.

And then she would know.

And then she would have ammo.

If she needed too, she would be able to blackmail Skipper. She would have an upper hand.


	9. Floresta de esperanza

_**Just letting you know, because the ending of the last chapter might have been a little confusing. Marlene listened so she'd have an upper hand on Skipper **_**IF**_** she needed it. Because Skipper usually has the upper hand, and she's getting tired of it. And right now she is angry at them for hiding so many secrets. Hey Marlene has a bad side too ya know. **_

~~~~~~~~Past~~~~~~~

When they entered the cave they had to swim for a very short while. There was a small pool up ahead. They all jumped out at about the same time.

Skipper collapsed on the ground gasping for breath. He felt like he was going to pass out. He felt accomplished though. He did it. He made it to and through the underwater cave without drowning. Now all he had to do is catch his breath.

Destiny had to do the same, less violently though. Skipper was sprawled out on the floor gasping for breath. She didn't have to do that. She was bent over.

Max leaned down and looked skipper in the eye. "You did it." He laughed.

"Yay." Skipper said, tired, thrusting his arm up into the air. He let it fall back down, smacking the hard ground of the cave. While he lay there, he looked up at the ceiling. It wasn't the usual white or gray ceiling. This caves ceiling had a blue tint. A deep blue tint. The walls were the same.

Once they had gathered themselves back up again, they started to walk. They had to go forward, the pool of water was behind them marking a dead end. But forward was just cave. There was no mouth. Yet. But there was little brown sticks with a red glow on top that popped up when the walked. Every time one would disappear, another would come into view.

Skipper stared at them for a while. Destiny did the same. They couldn't figure out what the things were.

"Papa?" Skipper asked curiously, "What are those things?" He pointed to the red glowing brown sticks. He wanted to know. Were those the surprise?

Max thought for a moment. "Those are wall lights. The brown sticks are wood, and the red glow is fire." Max explained.

"Fire?" Destiny repeated confused. "What's that?"

"Fire is a source of heat. You make one when you're cold. It is also a great source of light. So if you're having trouble seeing you make a fire." A voice said from behind.

They spun around as soon as the first word was said. And they came face to face with Bob.

"It's you." Max said surprised. He didn't expect to see him here.

"It's me." Bob replied enthusiastically.

"Not to be rude." Destiny said, "But why are you here Mr.?"

"Well, young lady, I am here to relax. I got a short vacation time from his royal majesty." Bob replied. He said 'Royal Majesty' in a mocking voice.

"You don't like him very much do you?" Max asked. He knew the answer though. It was in his voice.

"No. He has my angel." Bob replied solemnly. He sighed. "Remember when we met Max?"

"I do." Max replied slowly. He didn't like where this was going.

Bob cleared his throat. "I was supposed to take them. That's part of my job. But I couldn't. I only had one. And it ripped me to shreds to see them take her. I can't imagine what it would feel like to see them take two." Bob explained.

Max pulled Skipper and Destiny closer. He knew Bob wouldn't take them. But he still got paranoid about it. "That's terrible. What- will you ever get to see her again?" Max asked sympathetically. He couldn't imagine what losing Skipper and Destiny would feel like. And he didn't want to find out.

"I will. Next month. Once a month I get to see her." Bob explained.

Skipper could tell that Bob was holding back tears. Skipper knew how he felt. Somewhat. He lost his mother. But Bob could still see his loved one.

Max remembered what Gabriel had told him once. She had come home red eyed that day. Max had put the kids to bed and taken her into their room. She explained why she was so upset. And it made Max's heart sink. Once you were a guard. You were a guard until you died. And if you wanted to leave, they threatened to take your loved ones. And if you left, they took them. It took years to get your loved ones back. But it was them. The King never showed his face while this happened. "You left." Max stated, too late to stop himself.

Bob stared at him.

"I'm sorry." Max said. "That wasn't supposed to come out." He explained.

Bob sighed. "But you're right. And I paid for it." Bob said, depressed.

"It's okay Mr. Bob sir." Skipper said sympathetically. "Maybe when you go see her you can go for a walk." Skipper suggested.

"Yeah a nice long walk. You could pretend to came here. And then run away." Destiny added.

Bob smiled. "That's a very nice thought." Bob said softly. "But I don't think it will happen."

Max thought for a moment. Bob shouldn't have to be so sad. Then he thought of something. It was very obvious. "Did you ever ask them?" He asked. It was such an easy question that should've popped into Max's head right away.

"No. But they like having the upper hand. They like knowing that they can manipulate you." Bob replied.

"They being the counsels right?" Max checked. He knew who they were. He was just making sure.

"Yes."

"Do you want to come with us Mr. Bob?" Skipper asked. He thought it would be nice. His mother always taught them to be nice.

"I-" Bob started.

Two guards walked up on either side of him. "We've been looking for you." One of them said. They were the mad ones. The mean ones.

"It's my day off." Bob stated.

It wasn't any of their business so Max grabbed Skipper and Destiny and walked further down the cave.

When they made it to the end of the cave they couldn't think about the guards or Bob. They were too focused on the wonderful picture that stood before them. It was a forest. But they didn't know that. To them, it was just amazing. It was just a wonderful sight.

There were giant brown sticks with green things all over them and green bundles on the floor. And there were many green sticks with purple bundles on them. Purple bundles and pink bundles and yellow bundles and blue bundles and red bundles too. And there was brown dust all over the floor. And multi colored penguins flying in the ski. But they didn't look like penguins. They had beaks and legs but their feathers were longer. Everything looked so weird.

"Papa? What is this?" Skipper asked. He didn't understand. It was a really good surprise. But what was it?

"This is a forest." Max replied. "See those big brown things? Those are tree trunks. And the little brown sticks that are growing out of the tree trunks are called branches. The green things that are all over the tree are leaves." Max explained.

"What are those?" Destiny asked confused.

"Come." Max said calmly, walking forward.

They walked into the woods. They held their fathers flippers all the way.

Once they came to a clearing in the woods they sat down. Max pulled a little branch off of a tree and brought it over. He sat down next to them. "This is a branch. And these," He lifted up one of the many deep green leaves that covered the branch, "is a leaf. When this is on a tree, it's alive. Now trees can't move. But, they do live. They can't scream, or laugh, or cry. They don't have mind. They don't think. They can't. So they can't feel anything. You know those little tiny bodies that are inside of you? Well trees have those little bodies too. Only their bodies to different things." Max explained.

"Like what Papa?" Skipper asked. He was quite interested in this. Living things that didn't really live. How did their bodies work if they didn't have minds? What happened if they got sick?

"How do they get food Papa?" Destiny asked.

"Well, they get food from the sun. See these leaves? They soak up the sun. The tiny bodies inside of these leaves turn light into food. They also get food through their roots." He explained.

"Roots? What are those Papa?" Skipper asked.

Max looked around. There was a little flower right next to him. He pulled it out of the ground. Roots and all. "These are roots." He said pointing to the roots of the flower. "The tree's use their roots, which are bigger and stronger that these roots are, to take nutrients from the soil." He picked up a handful of dirt. "This is soil. It's called dirt a lot."

"Why?" Destiny asked.

"Because it makes you dirty if you play with it. For trees and their roots, it is a good place to get food. The roots also keep the tree in place, so it wont fall down." Max explained.

"What do you have in you flipper Papa? Is that a tree too?" Skipper asked curiously. He liked this place. It was nice. Peaceful.

"No." Max laughed. "This is called a flower."

~~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~

"He spent all day explaining every part of the woods to us. Leaves, flowers, bushes, dirt, everything." Skipper explained.

"And you liked it?" Kowalski asked.

"I always liked the woods Kowalski." Skipper replied. It was true. He was always a woodland boy. He could navigate woods like he'd lived there his entire life. He grew up in woods. Forests. He had learned a lot in them too. A forest wasn't just a bundle of trees and plants to him. Forests never really were. He always thought of forests as playgrounds. When he was younger. They were still playgrounds though. If you knew how to make them playgrounds.

"You did?" Kowalski asked, kind of shocked. Skipper didn't seem like a tree person. He didn't come off as a forest lover. There really was more to Skipper than what he would let on.

"So you spent all day playing with plants?" Private asked.

"No. Not all day…..

~~~~~~Past~~~~~~

"That's a lot of things in one place Papa." Skipper said a little overwhelmed. A forest had a lot of Trees and plants and flowers and bushes. There was a lot of things going on in a forest.

"Yes. A forest is a whole other world from the one we live in. It's sometimes a better one too." Max replied.

"Yeah. I like it though Papa." Destiny stated.

"We're not done yet." Max said smiling. "There's more."

"More?" Skipper asked enthusiastically. "What is it Papa? I wanna see it." He liked the forest. It was calm and peaceful and warm. Like Mama's hugs. He missed her hugs.

"Rivers. Now before you see them I think you should know what they are. Rivers are like strips of flowing water. They connect ponds and lakes to each other in one long wavy strip of water. A waterfall is when a river or lake flows down a cliff. You'll see." Max replied.

Skipper was excited. He couldn't wait to see the rivers and waterfalls.

Max pulled away some leaves and underbrush to uncover a small pond fed by a waterfall. It was a fairly small waterfall. Beautiful all the same.

"Papa it's beautiful." Destiny said in awe.

Skipper couldn't say anything. The view before him was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The water was crystal blue and the waterfall was magnificent.

Max smiled. It was a beautiful sight.

They stayed there fro a while. Swimming, playing, having fun, enjoying themselves. Being carefree. Being truly happy. They hadn't been so happy since…forever.

It hurt when Max had to tell them that it was time to go home. Because it wasn't home anymore. It hadn't been for a few weeks now. And it would never be home again. They were so happy here. He didn't want to ruin their spirits. But they had to go home.

They were laughing running around when he picked them up.

"What is it Papa?" Destiny laughed.

Max sighed. "We have to go home now."

"But Papa." Skipper whined. "I don't want to go home. It's scary there."

Max wasn't shocked. He was saddened by that. They shouldn't be afraid to go home. It wasn't right.

"We don't want to go back Papa." Destiny cried, tears in her eyes.

They both started crying.

~~~~~~Present.~~~~~~

"That was the first time he sang to us. Our mother was the one who did that. when she was home. When we had nightmares. Or when we cried. We never knew he could sing. Not like that. He filled that spot perfectly. He had a gentle voice that actually calmed us. Maybe even better than our mother could." Skipper explained. "it was a song called You'll be in my heart I think. And no I'm not singing."

~~~~~~Past~~~~~~~

He sang to them as he walked back to the cave. He hated when they cried. "Come stop your crying it will be alright. Just take my hand…hold it tight. I will protect you from, all around you. I will be here don't you cry. For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you keep you safe and warm. This bond between us, can't be broken. I'll be right here don't you cry. Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart. From this day one now and forever more. You'll be in my heart. No matter what they say. You'll be here in my heart always."

Skipper never knew his father could sing like that. He never knew that his father had such a soothing voice. It had to be soothing. He calmed down. He fell asleep too.

Destiny did the same thing.

That's why he stopped singing. He could've finished the song. But he didn't need to. He was glad to see them sleeping so soundly. Maybe they could spend the night. But then they'd be late for school in the morning.

He walked to the cave and sighed. Now he had to wake them up.

"Hey." A voiced whispered loudly.

Max looked around confused. He didn't know where that came from. But it was towards him because he was the only one there.

I figure stepped out of the shadows. "I know a secret passage if you don't want to wake them." He said with a scratchy voice.

"Ok." Max said slowly, carefully. He didn't know if he should trust this man. But he didn't want to wake them up so he followed.

~~~~~Present.~~~~~~

"He didn't tell you?" Kowalski asked.

"No. he didn't say what happened after that. all he said was that the man was trustworthy and he ended up inside the mountain where the pond was and from there took us home. He apparently didn't run into any trouble. Not even when we got home. He just put us in our respected beds and went to sleep himself." Skipper explained.

"Wasn't she there? I mean didn't he have to sleep with her?" Private asked.

"Like I said before. he took to sleeping in a chair in the main room. He didn't sleep in a bed." Skipper replied. His father slept with her eventually. Involuntarily. And his heart burned more and more with every passing second. She had made him sleep with her. Because she knew it would hurt him. Because Gabriel was still his wife dead or not. She was still his friend. He still loved her. Sleeping with that witch was like sleeping with fire. **That** he told them.

"Oh. Well I guess he was happier there then." Private replied. He thought he had asked a wrong question. It seemed that way. Skipper still sounded upset, and tired. And as her explained that last part, he got worse. The nightmare part was coming soon. Private could feel it. He could hear it in Skippers voice.

"He was actually. She didn't do anything the next morning. She got what she wanted. That week was the last check up. She acted happy. We were still at school, my father was called home. He said that when she closed the door he knew. She gave him such an evil look that he knew. Something was going to happen. The continuous downward spiral we were in was about to get worse. Much, much worse." Skipper looked up at them. "And so the nightmare began."

_**O_O The nightmare shall begin Next chapter! O_O**_

_**Thanks for the link tip. I was lied to. No wonder my computer wouldn't link it. Anyway. Thanks a bunch. Hopefully the link works. Note that Max only sang the first verse of the song. He will sing all of it later on. Ok the site wont put it up it keeps deleating the first part so I have to space it. No link. If you want to make it easier for yourself the go to youtube and type in 'You'll be in my heart Phil Collins**_

w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = 9 R i R F T L H O y 9 

_**That's the one I listened too. But any one will work just as good I think.**_


	10. the nightmare begins

_**I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO UPDATE! I was having a lot of trouble TT_TT**_

_**Forgives? :3 ^-^'**_

"When we came home that day, the entire room was a mess. The table was upside down, the chairs were on their sides all over the room. It looked like a fight had happened. Or like someone had just came and wrecked the place. Everything was dark and luminous. Scary. We both knew that something was wrong." Skipper paused. "We were afraid to find out what had happened. We didn't know that our father had been beaten to a bloody pulp,"

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~Past~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"P-p-papa?" Destiny called out in a scared voice. Their father wasn't a messy man. It wasn't like him to leave the house a mess like this. He didn't leave things lying all over the place.

"Do you think something bad happened to him?" Skipper asked terrified. He didn't know why else his father would leave the house so messed up. He was very worried about his father. What could've happened to him to make him leave without cleaning up?

Destiny walked into the wrecked room. "I don't know Skippy," She said nervously. "We have to find him."

Skipper walked fearfully down the hallway to his father's room. "P-p-p-papa?" He called. No one answered. He stood in the door way to the room afraid to go in. "Papa?" he called again. He stepped into the room and screamed.

Destiny startled by Skippers sudden screeched ran down the hallway into her father's room where Skipper stood shaking.

Skipper stared at his father. His father who lay on the floor of the room with bruises all over his body and scratches and cuts everywhere. The ice under him was dyed red. "P-papa?" he called fearfully in a cracked voice.

"A beautiful sight isn't it?" Sasha said slyly from the door way of the room. Skipper and Destiny spun around and stared up at Sasha, shaking, red eyed, and terrified. Sasha let out a harsh hyena laugh when she saw the fear that was instilled upon the two small children.

~~~~~~Present~~~~~~~

Skipper paused. Thinking about what happened next sent shivers down his spine. He grabbed his elbows in attempt to keep himself from shaking. He remembered how pained his father looked. The cold ice slamming into him as he was thrown into the cold. Tears formed in his eyes. He still didn't understand it. Why were people like that? They were innocent. His father never did anything wrong. They never did anything wrong on purpose. No one was more innocent than they were. But that's what she got the most pleasure out of. Why?

"Skippah?" Private asked carefully. Skipper seemed to curl into himself. Whatever Sasha did next really scared him.

"Skipper?" Kowalski asked slowly. Skipper was obviously traumatized by whatever happened next. He didn't want to make Skipper any worse. He decided to wait until Skipper calmed down before asking for the next piece of the story.

Private didn't want to make Skipper worse so he waited like Kowalski.

Rico didn't think the same. "Wha?" He asked. "Wha happen?"

"Rico," Kowalski scolded. "Wait a minute."

"Wha?" Rico asked defensively.

Private motioned towards Skipper, who was obviously having trouble telling them this without them pressuring him.

Rico shrugged defensively. What did he do?

Kowalski slapped Rico.

Rico shook his head, shocked. The shocked feeling melted into anger and he turned and pushed Kowalski down.

Kowalski got up. Rico did the same. The two started to fight. Not how they were trained. They faought with punches in more of a street fighting manor.

Private got up and tried to break up the fight. "Guys cut it out!" he grunted as he tried to separate the two stronger penguins. Rico pushed him out of the way.

Skipper opened his eyes and watched the two fight for a few minutes. He blinked wondering if he had fainted and was now dreaming. It gave him a little break from his traumatizing memory.

Private tried again. This time he crawled up in between them and kicked them apart. They both took a few steps backward and stared at Private angrily before charging at each other again.

Skipper got up and jumped between the two sending them both into opposite walls. "Enough!" he ordered. "What's the matter with you two?" He demanded. If it was one thing he hated it was fighting between friends. Arguing was fine but not fighting. That annoyed him. He looked back and forth between the two. They both looked down shamefully.

Skipper rubbed his temples and sat down suddenly overcome with a terrible headache. He remembered what he was currently doing. It only made the headache worse. He hated the room. The one in the back of their house. The one Sasha had thrown them into every night. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at the clock. It was twelve o'clock at night.

Kowalski looked ever at Skipper. "Are you ok?" he asked calmly.

Skipper took a deep breath. "Yeah," he sighed. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine Skippah," Private said. Skipper looked sick truthfully.

"I know," Skipper replied. He didn't feel too hot either.

Rico looked up at Kowalski before looked back at Skipper. "Wha next?" he asked.

Skipper sighed he knew that was coming.

"Rico!" Kowalski scolded. Didn't Rico have a shred of decency?

"It's fine Kowalski," Skipper said, trying to be the mediator. It wasn't very hard for him.

Rico stuck his tongue out at Kowalski.

Kowalski responded with a growl.

"Knock it off you two," Skipper commanded.

"So," Private asked cautiously, "what did she do to you?" He didn't know if he wanted to find out.

~~~~~Past~~~~~

She stood between the doorway and the little brats. She smiled at them. "It's your turn now," he said evilly. She looked straight at Skipper.

Skipper swallowed and grabbed onto his sisters arm. Shaking with intense fear that he'd never felt before. This woman had just hurt his father. Who knew what she was going to do to him.

Sasha snatched them both up and carried them down the hallway.

Skipper and Destiny let out high pitched screeches and cries as they were carried down the hallway.

Sasha threw Destiny into the back room and slammed the door shut. Destiny quickly got up and ran to the door. "SKIPPY!" she cried frantically slamming her fists onto the hard ice door. "Skippy!"

"Sissy!" Skipper cried now more terrified than ever. He was slammed onto the kitchen counter. Sasha emptied what was left in their refrigerator. "Wh-what are y-you g-gonna do w-w-with m-m-m-m-me?" he stuttered fearfully.

Sasha grabbed Skipper and threw him into the refrigerator. "Goodnight you little brat!" She laughed as she closed the refrigerator door.

Skipper was filled with more fear. He sat up on the top shelf of the refrigerator shivering. He reached forward and pushed on the door but it wouldn't open. He was trapped. He couldn't get out. It was so cold in here. He could freeze to death in here. He couldn't die. He didn't want to die! His heart started to race. What if he did die? What would sissy do? What would Papa do? Papa would be real sad if he found him in the refrigerator…dead. Skipper grabbed his elbows and shivered. "PAPA!" he cried. Tears burned through his eyes, cascading down his cheeks. "Papa." The white walls of the refrigerator gave no hope. The ice clinging to the roof gave no comfort. As Skipper cried and cried he knew that he was gonna freeze to death in the refrigerator.

Sasha left late that night she didn't come back until late the next night.

Destiny stayed up all night banging on the door and crying for her brother. She couldn't imagine what could've happened to him. She began to cry early in the night. "Skippy!" she cried, tears flowing down the feathers on her cheek. Where was he? What did she do to him?

Max woke up the next morning sore and stiff. He looked around. It seemed like no one was home. He realized what time it had to be and shot up into a sitting position. Skipper and Destiny! He ran to their rooms. They weren't there. They weren't there. His heart skipped a beat. Where were they? Ran into the main room and looked around frantically. Where could they be? He felt burning behind his eyes. No no no no, they have to be here somewhere. He stood still for a second trying to hear anything. Any sign of life. Then he heard it.

Destiny wasn't going to give up. She was exhausted but she had to find Skipper. "SKIPPY!" she shouted with all the voice she had left.

Max ran to the back room. The empty room at the back of the house. He opened the door and looked down to see Destiny. He picked her up and hugged her. He was so relieved to see that she was ok. He kissed her forehead. "Are you ok sweetheart?" he asked calmly. He was shaking because of how worried he was.

"I'm ok papa," Destiny cried.

Max didn't feel any of the bruises or other injuries that he had. All he cared about was Destiny and that she was ok. "Where's your brother?" he asked urgently. He needed to find Skipper.

Destiny burst out crying. "I don't know Papa. She-she-she tooked him and-and-and- I don't know where she tooked him," she cried uncontrollably. What if he was dead?

Max held Destiny tighter. "Don't worry baby we'll find him. We'll find him," He said calmly. They had to find him. He rocked Destiny back and forth. "We'll find him," he whispered.

Destiny curled into her father. She couldn't stop crying. What if they didn't?

Max walked back to the main room and looked around. There wasn't any hint to where Skipper was. His heart raced. What if she took him somewhere else? Where was he? Where was his son? He walked into the kitchen and placed Destiny gently onto the counter.

Destiny sniffled and picked up one of the many ice cubes that were lying on the counter, confused.

Skipper was now colder than cold. He felt freezed all the way to the bone. He was shivering violently feeling colder than he'd ever felt before. He still didn't want to die. He wanted to be warm again. He wanted to be in papa's warm arms. Papa's loving warm arms. He reached forwards and banged on the frozen door with as much strength as he had left.

Max froze. He looked at the refrigerator. _Tap. Tap. Tap._ He heard it. It was such a quiet noise but he heard it. _Tap. Tap. Tap._ It was coming from the refrigerator. He walked towards it and reached for the handle hesitantly. _Tap. Tap. Tap._ He opened the door. He thought he was going to have a heart attack.

Skipper saw his father and burst into tears. "P-pap-p-pa. I'm s-s-so c-c-c-c-cold," he cried.

Max pulled his son out of the refrigerator and held him tightly. He was stuck in the refrigerator all night. He picked up Destiny and held them both. They nestled into his chest and cried. He almost cried himself. They had to have been so scared. He should've been there for them. He didn't even remember what happened. One minute he was walking through the door from work and the next thing he knew he was being used as a living punching bad. He should've been more alert. He should've been there to stop her from doing this. He felt knots forming in his stomach. He held them tighter. He'd never let this happen again. Never.

Sometime in the morning Skipper and Destiny fell asleep. Max never let them go. He held them all morning. While they slept. He wasn't going to let anything happen to them. They slept all day, and Max was more than happy to let them. He sat with them in the middle of the overturned main room. They slept into the night. Max smiled down at them. They were both sleeping so soundly. So calmly. They looked so peaceful it almost brought him to tears.

He rested his head against the wall. A few minutes later the front door opened. Sasha walked in.

Max looked up at her. She smiled at him. "I see you found my presents," she taunted. She let out a hyena like laugh. Max swallowed. He didn't answer.

"Did you like my presents?" she asked delightfully.

Max stared at her wide eyed. He hoped he wasn't required to answer.

"Well," She growled.

"Um.. n-no?" Max replied fearfully. He didn't want her do do anything more to them. He wanted her to leave them alone.

"What?" she demanded.

"I mean yes," Max stuttered. "Y-yes." He flinched.

"Good," Sasha hissed walking to the bedroom.

Max sighed and let his head fall back to the wall. What did he do to deserve this? Why did they have to deal with this wicked, torturous woman? Why? He was just glad that she left them alone. He didn't sleep that night. He stayed up and watched over Skipper and Destiny like a guardian angel would. He wasn't going to let his children suffer anymore tonight. Not his children. He looked down at them. His little angels.


End file.
